Fen: Hello everybody! Fen here for another of Shokugeki no Soma: Heaven's Recipe! And look who's back!
AQ: Yo sorry had… sad life problems that needed to be dealt with.
Fen: I know. And I won't tell that in detail to everybody here. But I'm glad that you're back with us now for this chapter.
AQ: Yeah, yeah me too, Imma going to take a nap.
Fen: O… kay then. o_o Well then, without further ado, let's start this chapter!
Disclaimer: Same thing.
Kurogasa was waiting for Erina to finish up with her Elite Ten meeting. As he waited, he thought about what happened at the Tōtsuki Resort. After so long, he was able to reunite with Erina. The only thing he regretted was not noticing the hints about her. They were right in front of him the whole time and he didn't notice. Then again, the same could be said for Erina. She didn't notice the hints about him either.
'Finally… after so long, I'm with Na-chan again…' Kurogasa thought. 'And I'll definitely stay with her… no matter what.'
"Sorry to keep you waiting." A voice said. Kurogasa turned around to see Erina and Isshiki approach him.
"Erina, Isshiki-senpai." Kurogasa acknowledged. "Everything okay?"
"Nothing, just regular boring stuff." The youth loving teen said.
"Nothing to concern yourself about h-h-h…" Erina started out strong but when she tried to use a pet name… she got flustered. "Hmmm…"
"Doushita, Na-chan?" Kurogasa asked.
"I'm trying to call you… ho-ho… -hone… hmm!" Erina tried to say, but moaned in embarrassment. "I'm trying to use a pet name but it's… difficult."
"Aw c'mon, don't be like that. Just use my nickname like you always do." Kurogasa chuckled, patting her head.
"I can't, not around others." Erina whined childishly. "It's special…" The girl said with a blush full of love and shyness.
"Yes you can, c'mon, you can say it." Kurogasa teased somewhat.
"No," The girl pouted. "I don't want to."
"Okay, fine. Then you won't get another slice of my cake." Kurogasa snickered.
"Mou~ that's not fair~!" Erina pouted harder.
"Then say my nickname." He grinned.
"Mmmmmmmmmm… Ku… Ku… Ku-kun…"
"See? Now was that so hard?" Kurogasa patted her head again, only for her to try and quickly bite his hand, which she failed at. "Temper, temper." He teased again.
"Mmmmmmmmmm…" Erina pouted.
"Hmhmhm," Isshiki chuckled. "I'm glad to see you happy Erina, but more delighted to see you have someone to enjoy your life with."
"Oi, oi, no need to sound like a parent, Isshiki-senpai." Kurogasa chuckled.
"Well seeing as I am the oldest one amongst us at the moment, I can't help but see the younger generation enjoy their youth." Isshiki said with an honest smile.
"Well you got a point there. Anyways, Erina and I better get going. I'm going back to Kyoto to see Kaa-san." Kurogasa said.
"Hmhmhm… sure, go ahead. Just be careful not to get carried away with the fun." The teen said walking away.
Erina blushed so fast and hard that steam appeared for a second, "H-Hey!"
"Oh stop, Na-chan. He's just teasing." Kurogasa said, before holding out his hand to her with a smile. C'mon, we better pack our things."
(Cue Rough Diamonds by SCREEN MODE)
(Instrumental) The first three beats of the instrumental show Soma and Kurogasa in poses before the song starts picking up at the fast pace. The two boys glowed golden surrounded by fire as various pieces of food flew upwards before the flames covered the screen, changing to a scene of the 92nd Generation Prodigies in silhouettes, walking towards the camera as the title card appeared for a moment before the flames overwhelmed the screen and changed scenery.
(Omoi egaiteru IMEEJI yori haruka~ mukou~ gawa e~) The scene shows various screen shots of Soma, Joichiro, Erina, Megumi, Alice, Ryo, Marui, Shun, Yuki, and Ryoko all looking at the camera with various experessions on their faces.
(Tsukuri agete yuku shinjitsu wa mada tooku~ hatena~i tabiji~) The next scene then showed various screenshots of Takumi, Isami, Hisako, Mito, Akira, Jun, Isshiki, Eizan, Shiki, Beatrix, Tendou, and Kurogasa all doing the same thing as the first batch.
(Tagai no PURAIDO wo togi sumaseyou ze) The next scene then changed to show various characters in the form of alumni, teachers, other support characters, and the headmaster of Tōtsuki Academy.
(Kotoba nante kazari wa hadakesaserya ii) The scene then changes to four women alumni of Tōtsuki Academy before changing to Erina who looks to the sky with a look of content on her face.
(Butsukariai, migakareteiku~ Rolling Stone~) On each beat of the music, we see various scenes of the cast and the various events that happened during their time at the Academy before it switched to Soma and Kurogasa who had their backs towards each other surrounded by various chef students ready to take them down, but they smirked at each other before they charged at them ready to take the challenge.
(Deai wa SHOCKWAVE! SHOCKWAVE! Mada shiranai sekai e~)The next scene then shows various students standing on top of floating kitchen knives in the sky, that were all pointed towards the sun.
(Aruki hajimeta, mubou na chousensha sa) Soma, Megumi, Shun, Ryoko, Marui, and Yuki stood on their kitchen knives on one side while Ryo, Takumi, Alice, Hisako, Shiki, and Beatrix were opposite of them and the two lines of knives clashed and parried against each other,
(Te ni shita yaiba de ashita wo kirihirakeba iin darou?) Akira stood on top of a large cinnamon stick and waved his hand forward and golden beams of light shot of the cinnamon sticks striking the other kitchen knives down.
(Dareka no mono ja nai… jibun dake no STORY) But Soma's and Ryo's survive as they flew towards Akira's cinnamon stick and clashed. Soma, Ryo, and Akira then noticed one more kitchen knife floating in the sky, showing Kurogasa standing on it with Erina looking on at him.
(Cause we're still ROUGH DIAMONDS on the ro~ad!) Kurogasa then jumped off doing a corkscrew flip then pivoted his body to dive down for a flying kick. As he dived down, a faint image of a certain red-armored beetle warrior overlaps him as he kicks the screen causing it to turn white and the screen shattered into pieces revealing a group shot of silhouetted members of the Elite Ten with a dark figure towering over them with a sinister smile before the scene changed to a group shot of the 92nd Generation Prodigies to end the song.
Dish 11: Pho Chay - Vegetable Version
"A-Ano…" Megumi got out, as some of the Polar Star students were all gathered at the entrance at Kurogasa's dorm room, seeing two big suitcases, one he wasn't using at the moment, since it was empty, and the other he was packing with his clothes and everything else.
"Ah, it looks like he was kicked out." Soma chuckled, "And here I thought I would be the one to leave."
"Nope. Just packing my stuff for summer vacation." Kurogasa answered casually, still busy packing up. "I'm taking Erina with me back to Kyoto to visit my parents."
"Bum ba bum-bum~!" Beatrix said humming the wedding march as she snickered. "Shotgun wedding?"
*BONK!*
"Ow!" Beatrix whined after Shiki hit her on the head.
"No… just no…"
"So how long are you going to be gone?" Megumi asked as Shiki was duct-taping Beatrix to a random boulder.
"A few weeks, give or take." Kurogasa smiled sadly. "I… Erina and I need to make up for lost time. Ten years overdue."
"Good luck. Here." Shiki passed Kurogasa some drinks. "Non-Alcoholic drinks, perfect for tender moments."
"Heh. Thanks." Kurogasa smirked, taking the bottle.
"Thank you, I'm out of the running for the upcoming battle." Shiki muttered as he had a sneaky look.
"What was that?" Kurogasa tilted his head confused.
"Huh? Oh nothing, just going to play some Fire Emblem with Beatrix at her dad's old house." Shiki said as Beatrix gasped excitedly.
"YOU FOUND IT!? FIRE EMBLEM: PATH OF RADIANCE?!"
"Yes!"
*BANG!*
In less than a second Beatrix threw a grenade to the wall and started to run with Shiki over her shoulder, "Revenge against the Mad King~!" She roared when slowly vanishing from the view of the others.
"That… was weird." Megumi blinked.
"HEY! Who blew up the wall?!" Fumio shouted in anger.
"Beatrix." Everyone chimed as Fumio sighed.
"Ugh… well at least she sends me the money to fix it…" The woman said walking away muttering for the girl's crazy intentions. "Oh, Soma. Your old man told me to give you a message before he left the other day. Saying you need to air out the diner."
Kurogasa smiled at that, "Huh, I should visit some time."
"Did you forget anything?" Senzaemon asked.
"Ojii-sama, I'll be fine. It's just for a few weeks." Erina said, as she had her suitcase ready to go.
"Mou~ I should be going with you and Kuro too!" Alice whined, with her comical pout, puffing her cheeks.
"Alice-chan, you and Kurogasa can have time later, but please let your cousin have her time with him first. Since they are lovers."
"De-mo~!" Alice whined.
"Ojii-sama, you do realize that Ku-kun isn't… that, right?" Erina slightly deadpanned.
"Hahahaha, well, to take a chapter of my youth-"
"I'm leaving," Erina said not interested in hearing something to scar her forever.
"I gotta go boss Ryo-kun!" Alice said equally quickly as she left.
"Ohohoho, works every time."
And so, Kurogasa and Erina met up at the entrance of the school and after taking a limo to the rail station, the couple went to get their tickets from the machine, but… it was cute and funny seeing Erina trying to get her ticket by herself.
"Do I press this? No wait, that's the wrong one! It's supposed to be this one, no wait…" Erina pouted, frustrated.
"Uh… Need help, Na-chan?" Kurogasa asked sheepishly.
"N-No, I read about this in a manga… maybe this one?" Erina said pressing another one.
"Here, just let me do it before you break the machine." Kurogasa said, before gently pushing Erina's hand aside and pressing the correct buttons for getting tickets to Kyoto. "There we go."
"…" Erina move forward silently as she felt bad for letting Kurogasa do something so simple for her. The two of them continued walking around the station, before they arrived at the platform, waiting for the monorail train to come. However, as they waited, Erina was silent the entire time.
"Erina?" The boy said looking towards the girl who was looking around the monorail station.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong? You look like you're lost."
Erina jumped slightly from his words, "I… don't know what to do at these places."
"Right… him," Kurogasa said with a mixture of hate and sadness before smiling sadly. "Don't worry, I'll teach you everything you need to know. Ask me anything and I'll do my best to help."
"Umm… I guess everything?" Erina blushed from her lack of knowledge.
"That's… being broad, but okay, we'll start out small."
And so after train arriving, getting in the train, and sitting at their seats, throughout the two and a half hour train ride, Kurogasa talked to Erina about all kinds of things in the world outside of cooking. "I feel so… stupid from this much knowledge. I have basic knowledge but all these things you told me…"
"I don't blame you, Erina. I blame him…" Kurogasa sighed. "He probably sheltered you for so long, I can't even imagine what he did to you… You didn't deserve any of that."
Erina didn't say anything but laid her head on his shoulder, "I love you… so please don't talk about him anymore… I don't want anything to do with that man."
"Alright, I won't…" He promised as he wrapped his arm around her.
Soon, they finally arrived in Kyoto and after getting out of the train, they walked around the city until they finally arrived at the house. "Here we are. Home sweet home." Kurogasa smiled a bit. It was still the same as before when he left for the Academy. A rather simple traditional Japanese house that one would actually find in the rural areas of Japan, but has been updated to modern standards.
"So you lived here all this time?" Erina said looking at the plain looking house her boyfriend lived. "I always thought you came from money like me."
"Nah. Money isn't really everything." Kurogasa waved off. "We're content with living what we have."
"I see…" Erina nodded with a serious look before looking a bit afraid. "…Ku-kun?"
"Hm?"
"Will your mom… be fine with me being your girlfriend?" Erina asked. "I mean she's been kind but when… he banned you and your parents, I always thought… that you all might hate me." The girl said paling from the thought. "You're the only few who care for me so greatly… I don't want them to hate me for dating you."
"Are you kidding me? They would love to see you again after so many years." Kurogasa said walking up to hold his love gently. "Dad and Kaa-san aren't the kind of people to hate people right off the bat. It'll be fine."
"O-Okay." Erina said, trying to build up her courage.
Kurogasa gently laid a kiss on her forehead, "It's going to be fine, trust me." He promised as the boy knocked on the door. "Kaa-san! Tadaima!"
"Hold on!" A female voice yelled as the two can hear footsteps coming and the door quickly opening. "Kurogasa!" The mother of the skilled chef smiled hugging her baby. "Welcome home, dear!"
"Okay Kaa-san, too tight… Can't breathe…" Kurogasa wheezed.
"Ah, gomen ne." Yukina realized, releasing her son before looking at the girl. "Ara, Erina-chan? Is that you?" She gasped.
"Ah… h-hello… Yukina-obasan…" Erina softly greeted the woman before Yukina suddenly hugged her, much to her surprise.
"Oh Erina-chan! I've missed you so much! It's been too long!"
Erina eyes were widened before closing them, letting a single tear run down as she hugged back the woman, "I-I missed you too…"
They then broke the hug as Yukina wiped her tears and held Erina's cheeks. "Oh look at you, you've grown into such a beautiful woman."
"Arigatou…" The girl thanked the woman shyly, looking at the ground.
"Saa saa, come on in, we have so much to catch up on!" Yukina said excitedly before pulling her in the house with Kurogasa following.
The three were sitting in the living as Yukina pour the two teens tea, "Here you go. So how's school been? I kept asking your Shishou but you know how he is."
"It's been a… new experience to say the least." The boy said as he added some sugar to his tea. "But I'm learning and meeting new friends… as well as finding Na-chan again."
The girl looked at her boyfriend before looking down meekly at her tea, "Ku-kun…" The girl mumbled.
"And I met up with Soma over there." Kurogasa added.
"Oh? How is he? I heard from his father that he's closing up shop. Is there a financial problem?" Yukina said before looking at Erina who didn't drink her tea but chose not to say anything.
"No… he just dropped Soma at school saying that if Soma ever wanted to beat him, he would need new experiences." Kurogasa chuckled.
"That's his reason?" Erina said with a twitching eyebrow. "I had to go through that because the dad was too lazy to teach him?"
"Well, with almost 500 losses in their cook-offs, pretty much." Kurogasa shrugged with a smile.
"Achoo!" Soma sneezed before rubbing his nose. "Someone must be talking about me."
Erina's eyes widened at that, "Wow… he must be skilled to make that… ruffian lose that much." Even though she didn't like him, she still thinks he has talent… but will never say that to his stupid trolling face.
"Oh yeah, he is. He's on par with Gin-senpai and Shishou." He said. Erina shivered comically on who Kurogasa was referring to. "Oh stop, Na-chan. It's not like he's lording his record."
"Yeah, but I don't want to ever go against him. He has the biggest win record in Tōtsuki's history and almost beat everyone save for his… sister right?" Erina asked to make sure.
"That's because he doesn't want to make his imouto cry." Kurogasa chuckled again.
"Hmph, like someone who doesn't want me to cry." Erina said with loving eyes to her boyfriend.
"O-Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogasa blushed.
"It means you're a great boyfriend…" Erina trailed off before realizing that she slipped up. "I mean-!"
"Ara? You two are dating?" Yukina gasped.
"Uh… about that. Ehehe…" Kurogasa said sheepishly.
That was when Yukina had this bright smile on her face. "Oooooooh, I'm so happy for you two!" she gushed, clapping her hands while tilting her head to the side. "When can I expect grandchildren?"
"K-Kaa-san!" Kurogasa stammered, blushing heavily.
*THUD!*
"Ahhhhhhhh, Erina!" Kurogasa panicked, seeing a fainted Erina slumping on the couch with a small nosebleed.
"What? Too soon?" Yukina tilted her head.
"Mmh…" Erina opened her eyes to see a white ceiling, "What happened?"
"Hey there, sleepyhead." A voice said. Erina turned her head to see Kurogasa sitting at her bedside.
"Ah, Kuro… where-" Erina started pushing herself upwards.
"In my room." Kurogasa said pushing the girl down back to her last position. "You fainted when Kaa-san teased you."
"Oh…"
"Sorry about that." Kurogasa apologized. "She was just too excited."
"Wait… am I in…" Erina looked at Kurogasa slowly as a blush started to make way to her face. "Y-Your… b-b-bed?"
"I did say we're in my room." Kurogasa chuckled.
The girl pulled the sheets over the bottom half of her face to hide her embarrassment. "D-Do… you want to join me?"
"Eh?" Kurogasa blinked. "You mean-"
"N-NO! I mean… we used to take naps under the trees when we were young, remember…? I… really missed your warmth." The girl said reaching his hand with hers. "Please…? Even for a few seconds…"
Kurogasa smiled at that. "How could I say no to that? We can do that for as long as you want. Now scoot over."
The honey-blonde girl nodded as she lifted up the sheets and allowed the love of her life to slip in. Kurogasa was in with her, as he wrapped his arms gently around Erina's neck. "Ah…" The girl sighed happily as she placed her forehead on the chest of Kurogasa. The girl and boy's eyes met and it didn't take long for them to kiss each other with loving passion.
The next day…
"Ara, you're going on a date?" Yukina asked.
"Yes, we are." Erina nodded.
"Yeah. Na-chan and I need to catch up." Kurogasa smiled. "We'll be away for a few hours, dad will be home soon right?"
"Yes dear. He should be coming home in a few days." Yukina said. "By the way, you should visit Rika at the restaurant. She misses you."
*POP!*
"Ku-kun, what is she talking about?" Erina twitched her eye, turning to her boyfriend.
"I swear, I did not break our promise before meeting up back with you." Kurogasa defended, raising his hands up.
"Ara? A promise?" Yukina said with eyebrow raised.
"T-That is if we get separated, we find our way towards each other!" Kurogasa quickly answered.
"Hmm? My motherly instincts are telling me that there's more~" Yukina smiled with an oni mask behind her, scaring the two teens.
"Y-You're just hearing things! C'mon Na-chan, let's go!" Kurogasa said, taking Erina's hand and running out of the house with her. It was after getting out of the house that they relaxed. "Phew… haven't seen her done that in a long time." He sighed in relief.
"Me either." Erina said, before pouting. "But really Ku-kun, who is this Rika?"
"She's another childhood friend of mine." Kurogasa answered, "And before you say anything, no, I did not date her before meeting up back with you."
"I-I wasn't going to say that!" Erina pouted as she didn't want to seem possessive.
"You being suspicious of me says otherwise." Kurogasa slightly deadpanned.
"Was not suspicious!" Erina growled.
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"HA! See? I told you I wasn't!" Erina smirked victoriously.
"Wha- how did-! That's so not fair! You twisted my words!" Kurogasa protested. "Stop acting jealous. I only have eyes for you Na-chan…"
Erina in her defense can only do one thing… tsundere protocols.
*STOMP!*
"ITEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Kurogasa wailed in pain, hopping on one foot. "What was that for?!"
"S-Sorry, It was instinctive!"
Meanwhile, Yukina watched from outside her window, seeing this unfold. "Ah~ young love," She sighed wistfully.
After their argument, Kurogasa and Erina walked around the city, hand-in-hand with the latter taking in the many sights of Kyoto. It was during their walk that they arrived at a restaurant. It was an average sized restaurant, enough to hold 100 people and right now, the business was going slow for today due to how they were little to no people in the restaurant. "Ah, I remember this place. The Chowing Dragon!" Kurogasa said as Erina looked at the exterior of the restaurant's roof, which was a green Japanese dragon in a cartoon style, smiling and holding a pair of chopsticks in one hand and a bowl of ramen in another hand.
"RIKA~!" A blue haired woman cried as the two teens noticed her. "Come on, let me in!"
"I said no!"
"Isn't that-" Erina got out.
"Ni Ongaku from my Cornish Hen Shokugeki… yes…" Kurogasa said as he walked forward. "Ms. Ongaku, what are you doing here and what did you do?"
"Rika left me! My kawaii student left her loving teacher…" Ni cried out with clouds of depression floating over her head.
"Wait, she's the student you were talking about during my Shokugeki?" Kurogasa asked incredulously.
"Ha~i!" Ni cried as the clouds were now raining… actually creating real water that was hitting over Ni. "Especially now that those twins are moving into town!"
"Twins?" Erina asked confused. "Who are you talking about?"
"Ri~ka~!" Ni said now in a fetal position.
"She totally ignored me…" Erina deadpanned.
"Let's just go in and see what's going on." Kurogasa said, before the two went in the restaurant. "Hey Rika, I'm-"
"I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY!"
*BOOOOOOOOOOONG!*
"ITEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!" Kurogasa wailed, as he was sent flying and crashing to the wall, even leaving an impression on the wall after a cast iron pan hit his form. The person in question was a beautiful girl about his age with long burgundy hair that fell to her mid back and has brown eyes. Her choice of attire was a white tank top with a jean coat that only goes down to just below her midriff. She also wore black shorts, white ankle socks and sneakers.
"Oh crap! You're not Ni!" The girl panicked.
"Hey… Rika… long time no see…" Kurogasa got out, his fingers and feet twitching every now and then.
"Oh my gosh! Kurogasa! I'm so sorry!" Rika freaked out, paling in horror as Kurogasa eventually fell onto the floor, his body still twitching. Erina could only look on in shock.
"Why did you hit my boyfriend?" It was more of curiosity than anger… which was rare for someone like Erina.
"Wait, what?" Rika said, looking at Erina. "Who are you?"
"Rika, what's going on?" A voice said, as two people came out of the kitchen, a man and a woman. The man was in 40's having short burgundy hair wearing a white collared dress shirt with tan khakis and brown dress shoes, while the woman was also in her 40's and she was an exact spitting image of Rika, and she had a much more mature and beautiful appearance. Her clothes of choice were a pink shirt, blue jean skirt that fell to her ankles, and black slippers. These were Rika's parents, Ryuunosuke and Rinoka. "Oh my, is that you, Kurogasa?" Rinoka gasped.
"Hi… Mrs. Ryusaki…" Kurogasa wheezed.
"I'm guessing Rika hit you again?" Ryuunosuke sighed, making Rika blush heavily in embarrassment.
"Sorry about that, Kuro…" Rika weakly laughed as they were in one corner of the restaurant with Rinoka applying first aid to Kurogasa.
"It's fine. Don't worry." Kurogasa said sheepishly. "Still, it's good to see you."
"Geez, you leave all of a sudden and that's what you say?" Rika sighed before smiling. "But… I'm glad to see my friend here!" She said playfully jabbing his stomach.
"Ehehe… yeah, same here." Kurogasa said. "Oh, by the way, this is my girlfriend Erina Nakiri. Na-chan, this is Rika Ryusaki, and her parents Rinoka and Ryuunosuke."
"Holy crap, Koji is going to have a heart attack when I tell him." Rika said stunned at the news.
"Koji?" Erina asked.
"Another friend of mine before meeting you."
"Mmmm?" Erina raised an eyebrow.
"W-What is it?" Hw stuttered, before paling. "H-Hold on! It's not like that! I totally don't swing that way!" Kurogasa panicked.
Erina released a breath of relief, "Thank goodness…"
"So why are you- hold on." Rika said throwing a pan at an open window.
"OW!"
"Stay away Ni!" Rika shouted, before clearing her throat. "Anyways, why are you two here?"
"Early summer vacation." Kurogasa answered. "I thought I'd take Erina with me back here to visit Kaa-san. Plus, I showed her around town and here we are." He added.
"Ah, I see." Rinoka nodded.
"So… what's the story with Ms. Ongaku?" Kurogasa asked.
"I'm sure that she told you that I left her?" Rika sighed.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well the reason I left was… well, I'm dating someone." She admitted. "And it's a boy."
"And… she didn't take that well." Erina summarized.
"Yeah, I mean… it was… one-sided. I didn't want to hurt her or anything but…" Rika said sadly.
"Wait, hold on, Ms. Ongaku was-" Kurogasa got out incredulously.
"Yes…"
"And she-"
"Yes…"
"So then-"
"Yes…" Rika blushed, looking away.
"Wow… never thought I'd see the day." Kurogasa blinked owlishly.
"Kuro! C'mon! I'm not like that!" Rika whined. "I just told you I'm dating a boy."
"Hai, hai…" Kurogasa waved off.
"By the way, what was Ms. Ongaku saying about twins coming to town?" Erina asked. Upon asking that question, the Ryusaki family frowned.
"Oh they are these business tycoons that appeared a few weeks ago and killing business around here." Ni said appearing behind Erina and Kurogasa, freaking the couple out. "That's another reason why Rika left me…"
"I'm trying to save the family restaurant! And how did you sneak back in here?!" Rika snapped comically.
"I'm hungry! No, seriously. I'm also in trouble if they continue with their campaign." The blue haired woman said looking at a menu. "I'll order three beef fried rice for me, Kurogasa, and Erina here."
"No!" Rika roared at her sensei.
"Anyways," Erina cleared her throat. "What are the names of these twins? If they are a business tycoon, I might know them."
"Rika-chan!" Ni cried once again ignoring Erina.
This caused the honey-colored haired girl to grab the teacher and shake her comically, "Stop ignoring me and speak!" The God's tongue cried as she scared Kurogasa and Rika's parents, while Rika just smiled kindly.
"You chose a good girlfriend." Rika said with a smile.
"Y-Yeah." Kurogasa stuttered."But seriously, who are these twins you keep talking about, Ms. Ongaku?"
"Ugh… so sick… gonna…" She started as Ni's cheeks swelled up.
"They're the Niijima Twins of the restaurant chain Niijima Ramen." Rinoka answered.
"Yeah, they seem to be also working for this one chicken lady at a station." Ni said regaining her composure. "What was her name again? Kinu Nakamozu?"
"Wait, Kinu Nakamozu? Of Karaage Specialty Shop Mozuya?" Erina raised an eyebrow.
"You know about them?" Kurogasa asked her girlfriend.
"The Mozuya is a franchise which specializes in selling only Karaage. Their headquarters are located here in Kyoto, but due to a great increase of popularity in recent times, branches of Mozuya have expanded to the whole Kansai region in Japan. They're also the first franchise in history to win the All-Japan Karaage Convention for three consecutive years."
"And Niijima Ramen is in cahoots with Mozuya?"
"Seems like it." Erina said.
"They've set up over a couple streets from here and been taking my customers over for the past few weeks and I'm losing more and more by the day." Ryuunosuke sighed. "If this keeps up, the Chowing Dragon will be gone and I'll be out of the business,"
"That serious, huh?" Kurogasa frowned seriously as he pondered in thought. "Well normally I'd say one of Shishou's quotes that 'Truly famous stores do not put out advertisements' but…" He trailed off feeling conflicted. "If it's that serious then-"
"You have to help us!" Rika pleaded, holding his shoulders, surprising him. "The restaurant is all we got and we're running out of options!"
"Rika…" Kurogasa murmured sadly.
"I mean you went to Tōtsuki to learn all that fancy cooking, right? Isn't there something you learned from there that could help us?" Rika asked.
"Uh well…" Kurogasa got out, feeling pressured before looking at his girlfriend, "Na-chan, help me out here."
"No, you got this." The girl said with a smirk.
"E-Eh?" Kurogasa blinked, before pouting and tried to think of something. "Well… I suppose we could visit the restaurant that's here and see what makes them so famous. Then we can figure out a counterattack."
"Boo…" Ni said as she sighed. "Well I guess it's better than nothing. We have no clue about what we're dealing with anyways."
"Then it's settled." Kurogasa said. "Let's go there now."
And so Kurogasa, Erina, Rika, and Ni went over to the next couple streets over and when they arrived, the four of them just looked at on. The restaurant itself was huge and was packed with a lot of customers. On the restaurant's exterior roof, there was a picture of a bowl of ramen with a rainbow coming of it.
"Figures that they would put a bowl of ramen at the end of a rainbow…" Kurogasa deadpanned.
"I feel… like someone is getting sued…" Rika said also deadpanning.
"How so?" Ni said with a comical question mark appearing over her head. Before Kurogasa could answer her question, he looked to the side to see another familiar person from his school, one that had purple and a familiar red cheongsam.
"Hojo? Is that you?" Kurogasa raised an eyebrow, making the Chinese cuisine expert turn to him.
"Ohh Kurogasa." The chinese food expert said as she saw Erina and the two girls and sighed. "More girls to your harem?"
"What?! NO!" Kurogasa shouted comically. "I don't swing that way!"
"I do! I'm into girls!" Ni said proudly placing her hands on her hips.
"I have a boyfriend." Rika said raising her hand.
"Anyways, what brings you here, Miyoko-san?" Erina asked.
"I have come here to scope out the new enemies." Hojo said simply.
"Niijima Ramen being one of them?" Kurogasa asked.
"Naturally." Hojo responded.
"Same here." Kurogasa said. "Rika's family restaurant is going out of business and they're the cause of it." He added, pointing to the restaurant.
"Ouch." The girl said feeling pity for the girl. "In that case, allow me to help."
"You would?" Rika asked surprised.
"Of course. While I do love competition, I don't like those who try to snuff out Chinese cuisine thoroughly." Hojo said.
"The more the merrier." Kurogasa smirked. "Well then, shall we?"
With that, he and the girls went inside the restaurant and true to what they saw, they were absolutely packed, filled to the brim with customers. All the tables were taken, even the booths and the bars. Each customer had a bowl of ramen which looked really delicious. However…
"Man, the smell of the ramen is strong," Kurogasa commented, coughing a bit.
"But man is it good!" Ni sighed in deeply.
"Hello, welcome to Niijima Ramen!" Two female voices said. The group turned to see two identical females greeting them. They looked to be in their mid-20's, both with long red hair, but one has red eyes while the other has blue eyes and they wore matching uniforms consisting of white long-sleeved shirt and pants that looked like chinese martial art uniforms while wearing white shoes.
"And… you are?" Erina asked.
"Niijima Yuna." The red eyed woman said.
"Niijima Yuki." The blue eyed female said. She then noticed Rika. "Aw, if it isn't the Crying Dragon." She mocked.
"Gh…" Rika winced, clenching her fist, making Kurogasa notice.
"Hey, leave her alone," Kurogasa said. "It's rude to antagonize your customers, is it not?"
"You are dining?" Yuki said tilting her head.
"If you are, we apologize." Yuna bowed respectfully.
"More like… sampling." Kurogasa corrected.
"Ah, scouting the competition, I see." Yuna mused.
"I'm guessing the ramen the customers are eating now are a hot seller," Erina guessed. "What is it?"
"Tiger Ramen." The twins said sweetly.
"No way! You used actual tigers for your ramen?!" Ni freaked out, making some of the customers spit out their soups.
"No, our pet would hate us." Yuki showed a tiger cub walking in behind her. "It's just a name miss…?"
"Ni Ongaku!" She huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "And your restaurant is ruining Rika's and my business!"
"How?" Yuna started as her sister end it. "So?"
"Your putting my family restaurant out of business. It's the only thing my family has left!" Rika said. "If you keep this up, my family will have nothing!"
"Such is life, you have to understand that we're just doing what we love." The sisters said together as they glared at them. "So order or Mr. Fluffers will bite you."
While it was threat it wasn't intimidating as the cub just took a nap on the floor.
"Fine! I hope you enjoy ruining other people's livelihoods!" Rika shouted before running out of the restaurant.
"Rika!" Kurogasa called out but to no avail.
"I'll get her." Ni said, as she ran after Rika.
"I really hope you're happy with yourselves." Hojo frowned disapprovingly. "We'll just take those Tiger Ramens to go…"
"Hmph… fine," Yuki sniffed.
Back at the Chowing Dragon, after Rika had calmed down, She, Ni, Kurogasa, Erina, and Hojo stared at their bowl of Tiger Ramen that they just ordered. It consisted of noodles, pork, chicken, and beef, all soaked in the soup broth.
"So… this is the Tiger Ramen…" Kurogasa commented. "It has a strong smell for sure."
"Slurp!" Ni looked at them, being watched by everyone as she finished her soup. "What? I'm hungry. Crying for your love makes you hungry."
"So much for test tasting on your end." Kurogasa sighed irritably. "C'mon, let's see what makes this ramen tastes so good." With that, they broke their chopsticks, swindled the noodles and slurped them into their mouths. Their reactions were almost instantaneous as their eyes widened in surprise and they dropped their chopsticks into the bowls. "What the-"
"The flavor profile is light despite the strong scent. It complements the heavy smell, actually the smell is making me more hungry." Hojo said.
"It's coming from the broth too." Kurogasa said. "The secret's in the soup itself. I just can't figure it out. What do you think, Erina?" He asked.
"It has enough to be a restaurant meal, but isn't that great." Erina said. "While it's good, the broth is too good for the noodles."
"You're saying the broth is overpowering the noodles?" Kurogasa asked.
"Yes the noodles are probably easy to make compared to the broth, but someone such as I can tell the subtle difference. That's probably a good thing to know."
"Which means, that in order to counter their ramen, we have to balance ours just right." Kurogasa said. "Okay, here's what we'll do. We're gonna to go to the convenience store and get as much as ingredients as we can for experimentation."
"Are you insane, I'm not tasting anything that isn't high class." Erina said her piece.
…
…
…
"…I'll give you five slices of my cake." Kurogasa said, trying to bribe her.
"Hmm…" Erina stern look slightly fell as she looked almost ready to crumble.
"Okay, how about two whole cakes? I'll even add tiers to it."
"Why do you have to cheat…?" Erina cried.
"C'mon Na-chan, my best friend's restaurant is on the line!"
"Oh fine…" Erina gave in as she pouted. "I also want…" She quickly leaned in to whisper into Kurogasa ears as he blushed.
"R-Really?" He asked.
"Why do I have the feeling that you guys are going to do something you're going to regret?" Rika deadpanned at them.
"I-I asked if I can make him buy me a Rider Belt!" Erina blushed deeply.
"Oh no, there's two of him." Rika said horrified, "My worst nightmare has come to fruition…"
"I thought your worst nightmare was you, me, and Kurogasa doing the dirty- GAK!" Ni cried as Rika neck chopped her neck. "Can't- ugh… breathe!"
"Rika…? Did she say-" Kurogasa blinked.
"Nothing… at… all…"
"…Double…" Erina pouted.
"Eh?" Kurogasa blinked.
"I want the Double Driver." Erina said. "Complete Selection Modification."
"Hehhhhhh… alright, alright, deal." Kurogasa said. "Okay, let's get some ingredients."
And so Kurogasa, Erina, Rika, Ni, and Hojo went to the store and bought any and all ingredients that can be in ramen, especially the noodles. Once Kurogasa paid for the ingredients, the store was closed and everyone gathered at a table to discuss their plan of attack and they had a white board with them.
"Okay, so let's learn the basics." Kurogasa said. "As we know, the Tiger Ramen's secret lies in their broth."
"I can't exactly recall all of the ingredients, but I do know it's all top class." Erina explained.
"Yes. But anyways, there are 4 primary types of Ramen soup flavors: Shio, Shoyu, Miso and Tonkotsu." Kurogasa said. "Shio is traditionally the way ramen soup is flavored. The salt doesn't affect the appearance of the broth and therefore Shio soup tends to be light coloured and clear and a tad saltier than the other types. Shoyu or soy sauce and this is next oldest flavor type. Instead of salt, a sauce made by fermenting soya beans is used to make the broth salty. It's not your regular table soy sauce, but typically a special sauce with additional ingredients made according to a secret recipe. The broth for Shoyu is the only type that tends not to contain pork. It's usually clear, but is dark coloured and sweeter than Shio soup."
"Then there's Miso. Miso paste has also been used to give Ramen broth its savoury taste. If used, obviously the soup will be opaque. Shio or Shoyu flavored soups merely accent the flavour of underlying broth, while miso leaves a fuller complex taste in the mouth since it also has a strong taste of its own. And the last is Tonkotsu. It's technically not a true flavor since it is contains either salt or soy sauce. It's made from boiling ground up pork bones for 12-15 hours till all the collagen has dissolved into the stock as gelatine. The result is a rich whitish soup that is distinct enough to consider Tonkotsu as a separate fourth flavor of Ramen."
"I say it's classified as either Tonkotsu or Shoyu." Ni said as she looked at the remaining soups. "It has that darker look."
"I agree. It did have the sort of meaty flavor in the soup." Hojo pondered in thought.
"So then we'll have to experiment with these four types of soups and the ingredients we have until we find the right combination to balance the flavor and compliment each other." Kurogasa said.
"…Good luck with that." Ni said trying to leave.
"Oh no you don't!" Kurogasa said, holding the back of her collared shirt. "You're helping out. Or I'll ask Rika to call one of your sisters and have them burn your manga."
"Do it, I have copies!" Ni said with a smirk.
"All of it. Even your copies and secret stash."
"I have online accounts."
"Okay, I'll have San delete all of them."
"Why?! It's not like Rika is coming back to me." Ni whined as she dropped to the floor.
"What part of 'I'm dating a boy' don't you understand?!" Rika snapped comically.
"Aww…" Ni twitched as she felt her heart stabbed.
And so with that, and Ni's heavy heart, they all decided to make ramen with the four types and many ingredient combinations. Erina of course tried to be the boss of everyone of how the ingredients should be handled and how the soup should be made, but Kurogasa kept her in check. They also tasted the ramens as well. Some were just outright horrible… in Erina's opinion while others while good, it lacked something and they couldn't figure it out. They continued to experiment into the night before they were exhausted. Rika and Ni fell asleep in food comas due to eating so much ramen while Hojo, Erina, and Kurogasa were sitting at a table with their heads down.
"Nothing…" Kurogasa sighed tiredly.
"And we used up most of the ingredients too." Hojo said.
"Urp… so bad…" Erina cried.
"We'll have to come up with something tomorrow after the business hours are done." Kurogasa said again before pulling a laptop from his backpack.
"What are you doing?" Hojo asked.
"I'm calling Soma on video chat." Kurogasa answered. "We used to do this back in the day," He added as he typed on his keyboard and they heard ringing on the laptop. A few seconds later, Soma appeared on the screen.
["Oh hey, Kuro. I was wondering who was calling,"] Soma greeted with a grin. ["Been awhile since we've done this."]
"Hey, Soma." Kurogasa said. "What's- eh? Is that Mito in the background? And… Mayumi-chan?" He raised an eyebrow.
["Oh yeah, long story. Oi, Nikumi, Kurase! Over here, Kuro's online!"]
["I told you not to call me Nikumi!"] Mito snapped as she went up to the screen. ["Huh? Oh, hey Kurogasa. Long time no see. And… Erina-sama?"]
"Hey Mito." Erina waved tiredly.
["Ah. Kurogasa-san! It's been a while!"] Mayumi smiled. Mayumi Kurase is a childhood of Soma since kindergarten. She has short brown colored hair, a small bust and a slim body figure. Her bangs curve inwards and cover part of her cheeks. Her eyes are light brown in color. Her attire was a simple blouse with skirt.
"Same here." Kurogasa smiled a bit.
["Oh hey there, Nakiri! And… purple-haired girl I don't know."] Soma grinned.
"Miyoko Hojo." She said.
["Oh, right! The one where you lost to Kuro in that Sushi Battle."] Soma remembered making Hojo's eye twitch.
"Y-Yes…"
"Ahhhh! Why are you such a parasite, Yukihira-kun?!" Erina snapped.
["What's with her?"] Soma asked confused.
"Bad taste testing. Enough said." Kurogasa answered. "So what's going on over there?"
["We're having a battle with a chicken tycoon."] The red haired teen smiled.
"A chicken tycoon?" Kurogasa raised an eyebrow. "Who are you talking about?"
["Long story short, I have to save my street district before this crazy lady wins."]
"Wait, what? The Sumire Shopping District is in trouble? What's happening over there?" He asked incredulously.
["Well the train station over there got renovated and there's a new restaurant that sells take-home Karaage."] Mito explained, as Kurogasa and Hojo's eyes widened while Erina lifted her head up.
"Are you talking about Mozuya?" Kurogasa asked, trying to confirm.
["Yeah her… probably."] Soma said, trying to think.
"What do you mean probably?!" Kurogasa snapped comically.
["Anyways, how do you know about that?"]
"Long story short, my friend's restaurant is about to go out of business thanks to Niijima Ramen who are in cahoots with Mozuya." Kurogasa said, shocking Soma, Mito, and Mayumi.
["A-Are you serious?"] Mayumi stuttered.
"As clear as day." Kurogasa said seriously. "Looks like we got ourselves a common enemy, Soma."
["So what do you suggest?"] Soma asked.
"We team up."
"What?!" Erina snapped. "You want me to team up with him?!"
"We're out of options, Erina." Kurogasa said. "The shopping district is in trouble and Rika's restaurant is about to go bankrupt. And with these tycoons in cahoots with each other, it's only fair that we team up too."
"Ooo~oh hell no!" Erina yelled at Kurogasa with a glare.
…
…
…
…
"I'll make you five cakes with three tiers. I'll even add the Gamer Driver and all the Gashats to boot."
"Still no!"
"Fine, then I'll tell Ali-chan about the one time you-"
"You wouldn't!" Erina said shocked at the underhanded tactic.
"Oh I would." Kurogasa grinned. "And she'll most likely tell it to all her friends and they'll tell it to their friends and-"
"Okay, okay you made your point." Erina grumbled. "I'll… team up with Yukihira."
"Good." He smiled.
["Wow. Someone's whipped."] Soma grinned.
"You shut up, Yukihira!" Erina snapped.
And so for the next two days, the two teams worked together on their karaage and ramen situations. It was long, arduous, and tiring, but in the end, the two teams managed to get on the same page and were able to figure out what kind of dishes they were to make. On Soma's team, they were going to make a karaage using a special marinade based on soy sauce and chili peppers after the large pieces of thigh meat soak. Then they would coat it in the katakuri scratch and fry them and after cooking it thoroughly, they fried it a second time to crisp up the surface. Then they would put it in a special wrap along with herbs and leaf lettuce. And they would add a dash of flavor with a chili sauce that contains fish sauce, and a round of black pepper. It would be called the Sumire Mark Karaage Roll, a roll based on Bánh Xèo, a Vietnamese dish.
As for Kurogasa's team, they were to make a vegetable soup that is also of Vietnamese origin. Since the Tiger Ramen was all meat, the only way to counter that is with vegetables. The types of noodles they will use is rice noodles, their broth will vegeterian based that will have a hint of sweetness to it. And to the top it off, it will be served with the freshest seasonal vegetables using bok choy, shredded carrots, napa cabbage, broccoli, mushrooms, and fried tofu. It will be called Pho Chay.
"Alright, this noodle soup is ready to go." Kurogasa grinned to himself.
"It is a step up on the soup the twins have." Erina said confidently.
"It doesn't have a strong smell as theirs." Hojo smirked.
"That is a good point." Ni said kindly, "And with the way we made them from such cheap stuff, it's not only delicious but affordable meaning you can even sell this cheap and it won't hurt your profits." The blue haired woman said for once serious in the situation.
"Now we just have to sell it." Rika said. "It's not gonna be easy though…" She slumped.
"Shishou ga iteita: Truly famous stores do not put out advertisements." Kurogasa quoted.
"Well we kinda need it now!" Rika snapped comically.
"Gah…" Ni said as everyone looked at her in fetal position. "Evil… Tendou…"
"He is not!" Kurogasa huffed.
"Manga… burn…" Ni said as she continued to rock back and forth. "Signed… Limited Edition… gone…" Everyone could only sweat drop at her reaction. "Yuri…"
"Too much information!" Erina exclaimed.
"Okay… give me a moment." Kurogasa sighed as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Hey Shishou. It's me. Yeah, I kinda have a problem." He said, before he explained the situation. "I know you said that truly famous restaurants don't put out advertisements, but Rika's restaurant is about to go dead." He said. "What? Do I have to invite them?" Kurogasa's voice said with a tired tone. "Fine! Twist my arm, why don't you!?" With that, he slammed his cell phone shut. "Shishou…" He grumbled.
"What is it?" Erina asked confused.
"Well… I think we got ourselves some advertisers… kind of." Kurogasa sweat dropped. "Na-chan. Whatever happens, under no circumstances, are you to scream like a fan girl when they arrive."
"Huh?" She asked, now really confused.
Three days later…
"Yuna! What's happening to our sales?!" Yuki exclaimed. "They dropped by 30%!"
"Don't know…" Yuna said as she tried to feed their baby tiger who still took a nap. "Do baby tigers sleep all day or is it just him?"
"Now's not the time to worry about that!" Yuki said. "Remember he promised to expand our brand if we keep up with these profits, but they're going down hill!"
"So? I hate that yankee," Yuna said as the Tiger was now on her head sleeping. "I thought we weren't going to use him anymore."
"We owe him! We've come this far and I'm not going back down!" Yuki said.
"Hey, did you hear? The Chowing Dragon has a new soup!" One customer said, perking the twins' ears.
"I hear it's really good."
"Yeah, it's especially popular amongst those who aren't into meat."
Yuna looked at her sister's aura of fiery hate as she took off the tiger from her head and placed it on her twins head, "Better?" She asked watching the flame slowly dying out. But a few seconds later, her fiery aura exploded, causing the tiger to comically fly up and back into Yuna's hands who just blinked. "What about cuddling him?" She said presenting him like a stuff toy.
Yuki didn't say anything as she darted out of the restaurant. "Sis, wait up!" She said, running after her with the tiger in tow.
The Niijima Twins continued to run until they finally arrived at the Chowing Dragon and the place was even more packed than Niijima's ramen. It was so packed that a huge line was formed that went back as far as three blocks of the street. Yuki furiously stomped her way into the restaurant with Yuna behind her and they saw the customers being happy and content with the soup they're eating.
"Three more orders of Pho Chay, Kuro!" Rika called out.
"Hai yo!" Kurogasa grinned. "Na-chan, Hojo, you ready?"
"Gotcha!" She said with a smile as she moved around elegantly as some boys and even girls whistled and did catcalls to her.
"Soup's on!" Hojo smirked as she poured the soup into the bowl. Erina then elegantly placed the rice noodles into bowl. Then Kurogasa added the toppings that were already boiled to perfection and was ready to serve it.
"Clock up!" He said, before he dashed around the restaurants, serving the Vietnamese soups to the customers. "Thanks for waiting! Enjoy!"
"Thanks for the meal!" A young adult wearing a fedora hat said as he greedily ate the soup. "Ah… the flavor is robust… perfect for a hard-boiled guy like me…" He said with a odd tone of voice, almost like he's narrating himself.
"How thrilling… the flavors are simple yet feel complex." Another young adult said slowly eating his noodles. "Very different than our city's ramen…"
"What the…" Yuki got out.
"Wow. They sure skyrocketed." Yuna blinked as her tiger roared cutely.
"Hm? Hey Ni, cover for me!" Kurogasa said, before going off.
"Okay don't take too long!" Ni called out.
"Well well, look who decided to show up." Kurogasa smirked at the Niijima Twins.
"Hi." Yuna said as the Tiger went back to sleep. "Ohh…" She said sadden that her feline was now tired.
"W-What is all this?" Yuki demanded.
"For you… payback." Kurogasa muttered darkly. "Shishou ga iteita: There are two things that a man must not do. One is to make a girl cry, the other is handling food so crudely. You may be not a man, but you made one of my best friends cry because you're trying to snuff out her business. And your Tiger Ramen? Well… let's just say you handle your soup very crudely."
"What?!" Yuki snapped.
"You heard me." Kurogasa said, before he presented a bowl to her. "It's time that you paid the price. Walk the Path of Heaven!"
"…Where is it?" Yuna said looking around as she started to walk around the restaurant. "I can't find it…"
Kurogasa fought the urge to facepalm as Yuki glared down at the ramen.
"I still can't find i~t!"
"Shut up, Yuna!" Yuki shouted before she relented in taking the bowl and eating the noodles using the chopsticks. Her eyes widened at the taste, "Urg…" She growled as she clenched her fists. "It's not fair… I spent nearly all my life… and this is better than mine?"
"Sis?" Yuna said walking back to her older twin sister. "It's okay… we can do better next time…"
"No it's not! I've dedicated my life to my restaurant, to my ramen, and this… ramen reject is better?!"
"It's not ramen. It's noodle soup." Kurogasa corrected. "While yours was delicious, your soup overpowered the noodles
"That's cheating!" She roared, "You didn't beat me in my area!" Yuki slammed her fist on to the table breaking it apart.
"Maybe not, but at least I saved my friend's livelihood from being destroyed." Kurogasa said. "Now you've seen what happens when you mess with my friends, and to quote Rika's family saying, 'You mess with a dragon, you're gonna get burned'. Welcome to Paradise."
"I did it so my sister and I can be happy! I've lived in poor areas and I worked my soul to get where I am! THIS ISN'T FAIR!" She screamed as she pulled out a…
"No way…" Kurogasa said shocked and slightly scared on what she held. It was a Gaia Memory!
"Is that…" Erina gasped.
TIGER!
Yuki inserted the Gaia Memory into her neck and it sank into her body allowing her to transform into a Tiger Dopant. The patrons of the restaurant saw this and screamed in terror, running out of the restaurant.
"Wow… best birthday present I bought her…" Yuna said looking at her sister closely. "What kind of cosplay is this?" She said as her baby tiger wiggled from her grasp and hid behind Kurogasa trembling at the Dopant. "Sis? What's wrong?" She said not noticing her sister was raising her arm at her. "Sis?" She said a bit more timidly as the arm came down towards her!
"Look out!" Kurogasa shouted as he moved Yuna out of the way, before the Tiger Dopant could hurt her. "Are you okay?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Yuna nodded shakily.
"Mattaku… one day… I just want one day without any Dopants showing up during our vacation and this is what happens!"
"Odd, how a Gaia Memory came all the way to this dimension…" The two young adults then walked forward. "Good thing Tendou told us to come, this is our area of expertise."
"Well it can't be helped…" The fedora hat man sighed irritably before he took out a familiar item and attached it to his waist before the same item appeared around the other man's waist.
"I'm counting on ya, Shotaro! Philip!" Kurogasa said before getting Yuna to safety.
"Hai, hai…" Shotaro sighed. "Ikuze, aibou."
"Aa…"
"Is this way to the Path of Heaven?" Yuna said as her Tiger was on her head again. Meanwhile, Shotaro and Phillip took out their respective Gaia Memories.
CYCLONE!
JOKER!
The two of them positioned their arms with the Gaia Memories away from each other, making a W shape before saying "Henshin!" Phillip inserted his Cyclone Memory into the Driver and it transported to Shotaro's Double Driver before he slotted that and the Joker Memory. He then spread the Driver apart.
CYCLONE-JOKER!
The technical guitar and orchestral hit played together as digital lines formed on Shotaro's face before the wind picked up and bits and pieces of his armor formed and merged together to become… Kamen Rider Double!
"No way!" Rika gawked.
Erina's eye violently twitched to the point it was almost comical before she fainted.
*THUD~!*
"Erina?!" Kurogasa panicked.
"…" Erina didn't say anything but had a goofy smile on her face.
"Saa…" Double said as he did his iconic pose. "Omae no tsumi o kazoero!"
The Tiger dopant just rushed towards the Kamen Rider as he or rather they jumped over it, "Jeez, this is why I hate women Dopant, they are more crazy than the guys." Shotaro's voice echoed.
"It can't be helped, Shotaro." Phillip said, the right lens flashing. "We've faced worse women Dopant than this one."
"Fine, but let's not waste any time on this one," Shotaro said as he pulled out grey colored Gaia Memory.
METAL!
He switched out the Joker Memory with the Metal Memory.
CYCLONE-METAL!
The black half changed to grey and the Metal Shaft appeared behind his back before taking it off from said back and it extended. Double swung at the Tiger Dopant with the Metal Shaft and was sent flying through the window, breaking it before Double and the Tiger Dopant were outside with bystanders looking on in shock.
"Let's end this!" Shotaro said, "I need my vacation from the little demon!"
*WHACK~!*
"Ow!" Shotaro said as he saw a green slipper on the floor. "How the-?"
"How dare you still call me that!?"
"A-Akiko-san?" Kurogasa tilted his head.
"Oh hey, Kuro-kun. Finish this now! We have a lot of missing pets to find!"
"But we're on vacation!" Shotaro complained. "And why are you here? Aren't you on a wedding anniversary trip with Terui?!"
"That's been done since Drive!" She yelled.
"Mou ii darou, let's just finish up, Shotaro." Phillip said.
"Fine." Shotaro grumbled.
JOKER!
CYCLONE-JOKER!
After going into his default form, he took out the Joker Memory and slotted it in the Maximum Drive Slot.
JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!
The wind blew around them as Double went up before they split in half and came down on the Tiger Dopant. "Joker Extreme!" They shouted in unison before their kicks landed on the Dopant, who roared in pain before-
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
The Dopant exploded and Yuki dropped to the ground, with the Tiger Gaia Memory in pieces. The onlookers cheered after the Kamen Rider beat the monster.
"Gah…!" Yuki cried as she cried while reaching the shattered Memory. "I need… power… I don't want… Yuna to live on the streets again…"
"There are better ways to do that than getting Gaia Memories." Shotaro sighed as he took out his own and went back to civilian form. "I better make a call. We're gonna have a long talk over at the local station."
"Wait wait wait!" Kurogasa yelled, "You're going to arrest her?"
"She had a Gaia Memory. All of them should've been gone, and yet she got her hands on one."
"That doesn't mean you have to arrest her. She's only doing this for her sister." Kurogasa said. "Let her do community service or something, but don't have her get thrown to jail."
"Sis?" Yuna said striding outside again, "Oh you're better… are you okay?" She said sweetly sitting next to her twin. "Oh…" She saw Shotaro and waved. "Hi…"
"Hehhhhhhhh… I'll see what I can do. No promises." Shotaro sighed.
And so after cleaning up the Chowing Dragon, Shotaro decided that she will do community service for six months, being a waitress at the Chowing Dragon along with Yuna. It was now late at night and Kurogasa, Erina, Hojo, Rika, Ni, and the Ryusaki parents all celebrated with a feast.
"KANPAI!" They cheered, clinking their glasses together.
"Whew, another round!" Ni cheered.
"I don't like you all…" Yuki said as she gave them drinks.
"I like it." Yuna said wearing a maid outfit.
"Just be glad you're not thrown in jail." Kurogasa reminded, making Yuki flinch.
"Ara, I was wondering what's taking you so long." A familiar voice said. They all turned to see Yukina come in, along with another person in tow. It was Yukina's husband, Kyoshiro who was spitting image of his son, albeit older.
"Dad, you're back!" Kurogasa said surprised.
"Heya son!" Kyoshiro waved back. "Mind if we join the party?" He asked, before looking at Erina. "Oh heya, Erina! Long time no see!"
"H-Hello!" Erina squeaked out.
"Whew, who would've thought you'd turn into such a beauty? And you're my son's girlfriend, no less!" He laughed.
"D-Dad…" Kurogasa muttered with a blush as did Erina.
"Ah no need to be shy son! I'm happy you two are together!" Kyoshiro grinned. "Just don't do anything funny before you two get married."
"DAD!" Kurogasa snapped with a heavy blush with Erina doing the same.
"Hahaha… well it's time for us to be on our way." Shotaro said as he stood up his two companions.
"You're leaving already?" Hojo asked.
"But you just got here." Kurogasa said.
"We've been here for a week actually." Phillip explained as he smiled. "Still it was fun. We have to get back to Fuuto City." He then pulled out a huge box and gave it to Erina. "Here. A present."
"Awawawawaawa!" She gasped out as she held the Driver. "I-It's the Double Driver! Complete Selection Modification!"
"When did you get that?" Kurogasa asked incredulously.
"While you guys were cleaning up the place." Shotaro said with a shrug. "It was on sale."
"Oh no. My nightmare has definitely come true…" Rika paled.
"Well no use having all this food go to waste, let's party!" Kyoshiro cheered.
Meanwhile…
"Tch… so the Niijima Twins have failed." A yankee boy scoffed angrily as he closed his cell phone. He was definitely not happy. First Mozuya had failed to rake in the profits, and Niijima Ramen was next to fall. He had seen the sales chart showing that the sales of Mozuya and Niijima Ramen had been plummeting for three days in a row. Not to mention that they fell at the same time. This prompted him to cut ties with these two companies.
However, it was rather curious as to how they fell in such a short time. As for Mozuya, she had told him about a red-haired boy that owned a diner at the Sumire Shopping District. For Niijima Ramen, he had gotten his information from Yuki herself and it was thanks to a brown-haired boy that talked about walking the Path of Heaven. So the yankee dug a little deeper into the two boys and after a while of typing on his laptop, he found the information he was looking for.
"Soma Yukihira and Kurogasa Kururugi…" He scoffed before smirking, "This should be rather interesting."
Fen: And that's it! Another chapter down! And yes, you weren't seeing things! Shotaro and Philip made their appearance as Kamen Rider Double!
AQ: How the blood soak hell did they get there in the first place?
Fen: Well Philip did mention something about dimensions…
AQ: What, they ask Tsukasa or Narutaki for dimensional hopping? That's weird…
Fen: …Didn't you say that you see the Shokugeki world as-
AQ: Stop! Ex-Aid, Eternal, W! Take him off the studio!
Fen: Nononono, waitwaitwait!
ETERNAL/JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE!
GASHATTO! KIMEWAZA! MIGHTY CRITICAL~ STRIKE!
*Fen sent flying thanks to their Rider Kicks*
Fen: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHOOHOOHOOHOOEY!
AQ: That's Gremlin's thing! Good night/day/afternoon/morning people, have a nice wheeee~!
