Author's Note: Next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you guys think!
Chapter 10: 200 Servings Part 2 and Silver Eyes
Nakiri Alice didn't particularly care for anyone except her family, aid, and people she is interested in. Like Yukihira Soma. Although she was sure that he was going to fail considering the choice of breakfast item he had picked.
"Gezz. Who expects an omelet to do well in a buffet?" Alice had thought to herself.
Around 5:30 am, Alice walked out of her bedroom and made her way down to the kitchen she was in last night. She knew that her idea would work to perfection and was making sure that all the ingredients were ready. When she entered the kitchen she noticed that a silver figure was looking at a large grill he had.
"What is this?" Alice was unfamiliar with the dish on the giant grill.
"Ah! Don't scare me like that!" Michael taken back by the sudden appearance of Alice. He had just finished perfecting his dish and didn't even notice Alice walking in on him.
"What is that?" Alice pointing to the dish on the grill.
"Eh? You haven't seen this dish at all? It's quite common with Hibachi places."
"What is Hibachi?" Michael facepalmed. How could someone not know what Hibachi was? Then again Alice probably didn't grow up around that stuff so it wasn't really a surprise to him at all.
"It's nothing. You can find out you mind helping me transfer some of this stuff over to my station? I can't really do this all by myself."
"Hmm… Fine only if you serve me that dish you were making."
"I got it, I got it. Come on let's go."
Main Hall E.
"That will be all. Thank you Alice." Michael sighed as his final preparations had been complete. He only had his skills and cooking left to offer.
"Based on last night… This morning I could only go about 40 minutes full speed. I need to have some ingredients prepped so I sacrifice the first 5 minutes. Then the most important part about my dish is speed and precision." Michael thought to himself.
Michael and Alice began to walk to her stand. Michael was suppose to have a partner cooking beside him but he didn't know if they had shown. So he decided to go with Alice to set up some of her things.
"Hmmmmmmmm…."
"What is it? Oh right that dish. Here I have some from earlier."
Alice looked at the dish and didn't really see anything unique about it. "What is this?"
"It's egg fried rice and some stir fry on the side. I came up with it when I went to a restaurant one time."
Alice thought it was a weird idea and still didn't have the perfection she was used decided to try the odd creation.
"Ah! This dish! It's surprisingly powerful! This oil! You need to pick an oil so it can produce carcinogens. (Carcinogens:It's a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue.) In a stir fry you need to have peanut or canola oil to break them down easier. This dish's flavor decomposes into its component monomer molecules, glucose and fructose." Alice thought to herself. "Who is this boy? He was able to hit all the molecular levels almost to perfection. The only reason why he didn't was because it was a tad too cold. But there is something else… The fragrance..."
"So how was it?" Michael saw Alice and it looked like her head had exploded. He decided to leave her at her own stand and went back to his. When he went back to his stand he noticed a guy… Smoking? No he was just smelling cinnamon. Michael tried to get through but he was too entranced by the smell.
"Excuse me? Can I get through?" The white haired and dark skinned man seemed to get out of his trance.
"Oh! Sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way."
"It's fine. We all have our own ways of getting in the zone. I don't think I caught your name."
"Hayama. Akira Hayama."
"Oh. Well I am-"
"I know who you are. Michael Xion." Hayama's voice changed from friendly go getting to a serious and almost dangerous stare.
"What is going on here? I am feeling… a sense of pride, fighting for someone else's sake, and not feeling proud enough… Yet it's all for competitive reasons. It feels only towards cooking." Michael thought to himself. He had never seen this before. Someone having so much emotion towards someone who they had barely even meet. He smiled at the thought though.
"I see. You aren't cooking for yourself then." Michael changed his tone of voice and his expression was uncanny. Michael did something unconsciously that he had never done before. He stared into Hayama and his eyes turned from jet black to a light silver. He didn't know it but it was an intense stare.
It was Hayama's turn to be shocked as he felt something he had never felt before… Fear. "I am afraid? Me Hayama Akira? Why is my hand shaking? I feel as if he could end me in one fell swoop. His eyes they are so intense. I can't move." Hayama simply watched as the man before him simply reverted his eyes elsewhere.
"Good morning to all. I hope you all got some sleep. First let me introduce our judges for today. Dojima said as many people began coming in. "They're food suppliers that have partnered with Totsuki Resort. They're pros and know what today's task involves."
"Additionally the resort's staff will also be judging your dishes, including Tokihiko Sakuma and Hiromi Sena." The two faces were thrown on screen. "You have two hours! BEGIN!"
Everyone was in a scramble fest. Trying to get there food out there and be appealing to the customers at the same time.
"Now then. This is where I bet it all." Michael thought to himself.
Only after 10 minutes a huge crowd was gathering around 2 booths in particular.
"This fragrance!"
"That smell it's so potent!"
"I want that dish so bad!"
Hayama to say the least was just doing his normal thing. He was gathering customers by using the power of his dish to perfection. However what he didn't expect was the booth going on next to him.
"That guy… Is he really human?"
"He is wheeling around on a wheelchair and is like a cooking machine!"
"Look at how fast his hands are!"
Michael had taken the first 5 minutes not pumping out any dishes at all. He intended to use Hayama to his advantage. He had seen that Hayama's specialty is fragrance to draw others in. He used the initial time to prepare batches of eggs and noodles for the dishes ahead of time. Once then Michael had already had enough for his first 50. That way he could keep going and not have to worry about prep as much due to his time limit.
"Here! Michael Xion's Hibachi Special Egg Rice Noodle!"
"Let's try this dish then." Tokihiko Sakuma said as he took a bite.
"AH! This dish! Despite the lightness of the noodles they give you that deep and meaningful flavor! The egg and noodle are in perfect harmony with each other! The rice used a Yum sauce found in Hibachi restaurants! Yet it works! Using salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of hot sauce is the normal. But he added mayonnaise, cinnamon, and sugar! Additionally with the peppers, onions, garlic, and peas it enhances the flavor!" Sakuma said. The crowds between Hayama and Michael were only growing bigger.
"So this was your plan? Entertainment? You plan on showing off your skills as a chef and taking advantage of your wheelchair which should be a disadvantage! Even more so… Your dish is trying to compete with me in fragrance!" Hayama thought to himself.
"Michael Xion! 200 Servings complete!" Michael sighed as his barely made it with 39 minutes and 40 seconds to spare. He was also thankfully that he had run out of ingredients so he was done for now. He simply wheeled himself out of the hall for a while. Dojima however took notice in the control room.
"That is the second time Michael has come first in this type of event. In the first one he even outpaced Nakiri by a good amount of time. In this one he seemed to blaze through these types of things." Roland said as he walked in the room.
"Hmm... " Dojima simply wasn't surprised by this at all.
"After all, he is the son of Manny and Leah. He might just have what it takes to make it all the way to the top spot. Not yet anyways." Dojima thought and simply laughed at the fact that Michael hadn't even inherited the two of his parent's greatest strengths.
"The devil and the angel."
After about an hour of resting Michael began wheeling himself around the venue to check on the other halls. Some had passed while others fell from exhaustion, pain, or despair. At times like this Michael hated having a Tongue that sensed all emotion. He didn't want to feel any of that.
"How can I feel despair and enjoyment in the same hall?" Michael thought as he had entered the hall A.
At this point Soma had only served around 8 dishes and things weren't looking good. Other around him like Nakiri, Megumi, and Aldini had already finished! While he had little over 40 minutes to finish!
"This isn't good. I should have realized that Alice had said those things because the Omelette Souffle is only good right away! If they aren't taken then they go bad!" Soma thought to himself.
Nakiri Erina on the other hand was looking at Soma with some pity. "That's too bad Yukihira Soma. Now you will finally see that you don't belong here! Take your pride and shame with you!" Erina simply continued serving as she thought this.
Michael saw that Soma's current plate status and then looked over at Erina's…
"Oh… So that's why I felt those emotions!" Michael thought as he saw Soma whispering.
"Calm down. Think about everything that dad's taught you. Analyze the situation and deal with everything all at once."
Michael noticed that a huge crowd was gathering around Soma's stand. He pulled out 8 stoves and his hands were becoming a blur. Michael looked and almost saw a mirror image of himself and he couldn't help but laugh.
"This is exactly my situation! I had a 40 minute time limit, I needed to prep super quickly, and I needed around the same amount of dishes! Things couldn't be more perfect." Michael thought and it didn't take long for Dojima and Hiromi took notice.
"He is slowly increasing his pace to make the impossible possible! The way he moves and his prep work is super fast! Not to mention his focus! He just hit that timer without even looking at it!"
"Michael had 40 minutes to serve his dishes and Soma only as 40 as well. These two had the exact same idea even if it wasn't planned." Dojima thought with a smirk on his face.
As the time began running down he noticed Alice and Erina looking at Soma with surprised faces.
"I guess Alice was wrong about what was right and wrong huh?" Michael thought as the time ran down.
5
4
3
2
1…!
"BZZZT! TIME IS UP! PLEASE STOP COOKING!"
As Soma finished up cooking Michael had approached him and the other two girls and Ryo. Apparently Alice was explaining that she and Erina were cousins…
"At the age of three you took my doll! And at the age of four you told me that my cake was gross! And then at the age of five…" Alice was explaining.
"I don't see how this is relevant information!" Erina interjected.
"Really? I would have loved to hear more. It's a shame really." Michael said the group.
"Michael Xion!" The other two bounced back after seeing the silver haired boy.
"Sup? You have looked better Soma." Michael said looking at the sweat beating down of his shirt.
"And you Soma? You talked big at the ceremony but you don't have what it takes to get to the top! Not finishing that easy proves this!" Alice exclaimed.
"Right? I really failed … I have experienced failure to get where I am." Soma said as if it was the easiest thing in the world.
"That I could get behind. Every chef… Experiences failure in so many ways. Some don't realize it before others." Michael's thoughts were interrupted though by a pouting Alice.
"You are tough to get through. I can't wait to crush you on the main stage." Alice exclaimed.
"I will be your opponent anytime. Come at me!" Soma said as the two Nakiris separated from them.
As the night dwindled down, Michael had met Isami and Takumi Aldini. They were from Italy and made Italian food as their specialty. When they were in the dorm room Michael had received two things on his phone that intrigued him.
One was from Shinomiya chef which he wasn't sure how he got his number.Meet me tomorrow at the main entrance alone by 7- Shinomiya
If that wasn't weird enough, his father had called him.
"Hello? Michael Xion."
"Hey Michael. How have you been?" Manny asked.
"I have been better. I just finished up the last task for the camp." Michael explained.
"Well that's good. Anyways I need a slight favor to ask, although I think Emma already told you."
"Yeah she said you need in New York?" Michael still didn't know why he had to ask Emma to do it for him though. He probably would have accepted either way.
"I could always use some help in the kitchen. Ever since I got this resturant to four and a half stars…" Manny hoped his son would be proud, however he was stopped right away.
"FOUR AND A HALF STARS? Dad? When were you going to tell me that a three star became a four and a half star?" Michael tried his best to hold his anger but how could he? A restaurant that his mom and dad built and all of a sudden it's on the verge of being 5 stars? He couldn't be happier… If he had known about it.
"Sorry sorry. A lot happened! It was one thing to the next! Anyways your brother and sister also want to check on their younger brother." Manny had tried to change the topic and Michael willingly followed.
"Okay okay. So when do I fly in?"
"Tomorrow if you are ready. I am already having a car come pick you up."Manny explained.
"... I am not going to ask. Alright I need to take of something first and then I will go to the airport."
"Okay. Michael. Congratulations on making it through that camp." Manny's voice seemed sincere.
"Thanks Dad. See ya!"
As Michael had entered the room the others were curious as to why Michael had been yelling in the hallway.
"What was that about?" Soma asked causally.
"Oh nothing. My dad is calling me back to New York for a little bit of work." Michael explained.
"New York? Your dad as a restaurant in New York?" Megumi now curious about Michael.
Soma on the other hand wondered something else.
"Didn't dad say he was in New York working on something?" His thoughts were interrupted by Michael though as he explained that he used to live in New York.
"Yeah so I am going to be gone for awhile in New York trying to help my dad out. Hope you guys keep the dorm nice for me." Michael explained.
"Sure thing!" Soma exclaimed.
The next day Michael made sure he got up early to make sure he wasn't late for his meeting with Shinomiya chef.
"Bonjour Shinomiya Chef." Michael bowed to the pink haired figure.
"Like Monsieur Xion." As always Shinomiya chef seemed as cold as ever.
"So? What are we here to talk about? I am assuming this wasn't just a beat on a kid in a wheelchair day." Michael's eyes turned again from a jet black to a light silver.
Shinomiya wasn't a man who was afraid. He had become the number one chef in France and he had overcome so many obstacles to get where he was today. He faced off against countless pros and learned the harsh reality of the world. But he knew of a chef in particular he had met one time by chance who had struck fear into his very soul.
"I see. So it really is you. You are truly the son of Manny Xion." Shinomiya barely spoke as Michael's eyes began to flare even more than before.
"How do you my father?" Michael had kept his emotions in check but… He didn't know even why he was getting riled up about this.
"I met him once while I was with Dojima. His eyes had that same silver vibe and struck fear into all those who dared challenged him." Now it was Michael's turn to be confused.
"Silver? My eyes?" Michael had taken out his phone and used the camera to face him. "Silver! Since when?!" Shinomiya simply face palmed. He noticed however his eyes were beginning to turn back into their normal black.
"Oh gosh I didn't know. Thankfully they turned back for now." Michael said.
"I was going to ask for you to consider work in about 6 years." Shinomiya had enough of this. He just wanted to make his offer.
"Eh? Why that long?" Michael asked curious. Did he not think he could do a good job now?
"Well considering your current state." Shinomiya pointed out his wheelchair. "Perhaps when you recover then you can maybe work." Shinomiya began to walk away as Michael gave him a bow.
"Merci Shinomiya Chef."
As Shinomiya walked away he had considered something. "If he had his power from Manny I would have hired him right there. What a terrifying man."