SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 36 out, this is Chapter 37 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts? So, please be a dear and read and review. Seriously guys, we need more obscure Sailor Moon crossover fics!
Disclaimers: Shokugeki no Souma and Sailor Moon belong to Tsukuda Yūto-sensei and Takeuchi Naoko-sensei respectively. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except the pairings in this fic and plot, I hope.
Pairings: Unofficial!Takumi/Ami, Souma/Megumi later, established!Isami/Makoto
Chapter 37: Hope in Solidarity
At the judges' table...
"All right, eat up!" Kuga presented his dish.
"I'm just about finished, too." Tsukasa, too, presented his dish.
On the sidelines...
The score's finally going to be settled. Souma mused, knowing Kuga's reasons for taking on Tsukasa.
At the judges' table...
"We're finally at the final stage of the second bout." Urara declared. "Will the Elite Ten win another glorious victory?"
On the sidelines...
"What the hell is that on Tsukasa's plate?" Daigo wondered.
"Is it sherbet?" Marui wondered.
"No, I see steam." Shōji corrected.
"The First Seat of the Elite Ten's dish..." Takumi started.
"He just brought out something insane." Mito remarked.
"Is that..." Ami peered closer. "Purée?"
"Seriously?" Hayama gawked.
"But our dish is formidable, too." Alice declared.
"Look at the hot, juicy pork shoulder." Yoshino drooled.
"At first glance, it looks like sweet and sour pork with black vinegar." Sakaki noted.
"But the way he plated it makes it look like a beautiful Italian or French dish." Isami pointed out.
"Kuga Terunori got the green tea card, which would seem difficult to incorporate into his Sichuan cuisine." Hisako reminded. "What kind of flavor combination did he come up with?"
At the judges' table...
"Let's give it a taste." Histoire lifted his spoon.
"The fact the Mister Kuga decided to smoke the meat in his dish is rather interesting." Anne praised.
"So delicious!" all three Bookmen gushed after taking a bite.
"The moment we take a bite, the freshness of green tea fills our view with a beautiful green." Histoire gushed.
"He added balsamic vinegar and Mimasaka Subaru's aged soy sauce to the black vinegar sauce and stewed all three together." Charme added. "The tart, rich flavor wrapped itself around the unami of the pork and made all the oily, unpleasant aftertaste disappear."
"Because of that, the green tea was pushed forward, becoming the star of this dish." Histoire remarked. "This destroys the classic ideal of sweet and sour pork."
"And the most important part of this dish," Anne stated. "The deliciousness of this dish wasn't brought forth with techniques of Chinese cuisine alone. He also used techniques from French cuisine that are on par with his usual Chinese cooking."
"I'm going to explain all that now." Kuga declared. "So listen up. There's another little touch to the black vinegar sauce. Sauce au vinaigre balsamique. That sauce, used in French cuisine, is actually the base of this sauce."
"Indeed," Anne referred to her books. "Sauce au vinaigre balsamic is made by boiling down fond de veau and then boiling that down even more with glace de viande and balsamic vinegar. It has both a light tanginess and a thick richness, which brings this sweet and sour pork to a new dimension."
On the sidelines...
"But how'd he come up with that idea and technique?" Marui wondered.
"I thought he just specialized in Chinese cooking." Isami agreed.
At the judges' table...
"Ever since I lost to you, I've spent every day fighting to change my technique." Kuga retorted. "I broke this shell of Sichuan and Chinese cuisine. I'm going to defeat Tsukasa Eishi today, so that he can never ask 'Kuga? Who's that' again?"
"You truly have changed, Kuga." Tsukasa admitted. "I respect that. But I don't think us third years are so easily defeated that you can beat us with hard work alone. Could you also enjoy the sauce of my dish, and not just the purée?" he requested, handing Anne back the spoon she had dropped due to the jolt in her body when she took the first bite of Tsukasa's green purée. "I'd like you to taste all four purees all at once."
"Please wait." Anne was still trying to recover. "I'm not sure if I can take any more stimulation right now."
"But then, my dish wouldn't be complete." Tsukasa reminded. "I really need you to taste this immediately."
"Please wait..." all of Anne's protests were cut short when Tsukasa fed her a spoonful of his sauce. "It's so stimulating, yet so refined." she sighed in contentment.
"It's such a gentle taste but it's toying with my heart." Charme was also captivated.
"This dish is truly..." Histoire admitted.
"A Love Supreme in physical form." all three judges chorused.
On the sidelines...
"What's going on?" Yoshino was shocked.
"Is it really that amazing?" Mito gawked.
"Such a rich aroma..." Hayama stated. "The best aspects of each type of tea leaf are standing out."
At the judges' table...
"A graduated purée soup made from four green teas." Charme remarked.
"Chickpeas, artichokes, cèpe, and white asparagus." Histoire recognized the vegetables that were incorporated.
"He combined each green tea with the most compatible ingredient and created a quenelle-like purée." Anne praised.
On the sidelines...
"Did he really bring out the best of each type of tea leaf that much?" Kurokiba wondered.
"The secret must be in the sauce." Alice concluded.
At the judges' table...
"Indeed." Anne beamed. "A cappuccino sauce created from green tea and Champigons de Paris."
"If you eat them all at once, the graduated flavors intensify even more." Charme gushed.
"The four distinct tea aromas are brought together like velvet." Histoire sighed.
"The winner of this match is Mister Tsukasa." Anne announced.
On the sidelines...
"It's no use." Shōji wailed.
"He's too strong." Daigo conceded.
"This is the strength of the one who stands at the stop of Central." Kurokiba growled.
"This is the strength of the First Seat of the Elite Ten." Hayama hissed.
"You're right." Isshiki agreed. "He's too strong. But there has to be some way we can still win."
"Ea that, you jerks!" Urara bragged. "You gave it all you had, and you still died in the fire. Too bad!"
"I don't know about that." Erina retaliated.
"After all," Ami let out a small satisfied smirk. "It's all according to plan."
"The Elite Ten win a flawless victory." Urara informed the audience. "We now bring today's Team Shokugeki to a close with both sides having five members remaining. The third bout will be held tomorrow morning at 10 am. We'll wipe the floor with these rebel scum yet again."
"We did it, Tsukasa." Rindō congratulated her partner.
"We did, Rindō." Tsukasa let out the breath he was holding.
"Let's keep this up tomorrow." Rindō encouraged. "You should appear tomorrow. Let's settle..."
"No, I don't think I will." Tsukasa cut her off. "I'm more exhausted than I thought I'd be. I'm going to rest tomorrow."
"What the hell, Tsukasa?" Rindō chided. "Don't you go soft on me..." she trailed off when her knees buckled underneath her, sending her to the ground on her back. "Megishima's ramen was pretty amazing, too." she admitted. "I'm beat just from going one-on-one with him."
"Looks like you're tougher than us, Saitō." Tsukasa turned to the sushi expert.
"No, I wouldn't say so." Saitō corrected. "I felt as though I was dueling with my own shadow. I'm quite exhausted myself. The Perfect Trace was a formidable foe."
"So this is what Nakiri and Mizuno were talking about before the second bout." Souma grinned.
Flashback the break room earlier...
"If we're just crushed by their overwhelming strength, we'll have died in vain." Erina explained her plan. "But if we're able to wear down our opponents' stamina and concentration, that won't happen. That will just boost the chances of the members who come after. That is our strategy to get through this Team Shokugeki."
"That being said," Ami took over. "Megishima-san, Kuga-san and Mimasaka, the three of you are up. Remember, the three of you don't necessarily have to win; the main objective is to exhaust Tsukasa-san, Rindō-san and Saitō-san to the point that they will have no choice but to use the entirety of tomorrow just to recover."
"This loss wasn't in vain." Erina insisted. "It actually gave us great hope. We still have our solidarity."
"We still have a chance." Hisako agreed.
These two together make a formidable pair. Isshiki was impressed at Erina and Ami's plan. They're still heading towards victory without wavering. Looks like she's starting to act like a leader; a leader with her strategic advisor.
"You and Nakiri-san really make a scary pair." Takumi was impressed by the two girls' plan.
"Yukihira." Tsukasa started. "I'll probably skip out tomorrow in order to get back into top condition. If you still want to fight me, you might want to skip out tomorrow as well, in order to better your chances."
"Nope, I'm appearing tomorrow." Souma retorted. "We came here to win as a team. My job right now is to pass the baton to Isshiki-senpai and Nakiri by causing as much ruckus as I can and chipping away at your numbers. Isn't that right, guys?" he gave Takumi and Megumi a look. "So, I'm just gonna come out and say this right now. We first-years are the ones who are gonna wreck havoc in the third bout."
"Don't hate us of all three of you go down tomorrow, Yukihira Souma." Rindō chuckled, using Nene as support.
"Right back at you, senpai." Souma fired back. "By the way, wouldn't things go faster if we just decided on the battle cards for tomorrow right now?"
Later that night...
Ami had just stepped out of her room's shower after completing the day's report when the doorbell rang. Looking through the door's peephole, she unlatched the door to let her visitor in. "Shouldn't you be preparing for tomorrow?" she asked.
"Isami's being overbearing." Takumi let himself in and sat on one of the twin beds.
"This just proves that he cares." Ami chided. "Chamomile tea?"
The next day...
"I didn't get any sleep at all." Yoshino whined.
"Even though we're not the ones who should be nervous." Sakaki agreed.
"I wonder if Takumi-cchi is nervous, too." Yoshino looked over at the silent blond over at the pillar.
"Don't worry." Isami assured. "That's just what he looks like when he's concentrating in the kitchen."
"What about Megumi?" Sakaki wondered
"Mizuno's trying to use chess to distract her from her own nerves." Mito pointed to the cousins who were playing chess. "The other one should probably be a little more worried." she sighed, looking over at Souma who was playing cards with Kurokiba, Alice and Hayama.
"Checkmate." Ami ended the game with Megumi just as Souma's group ended their game.
"I can never win against you, Ami-chan." Megumi pouted.
"Maybe I should introduce you to Shōgi next time." Ami suggested.
"I think it's about time." Souma declared as the elevator reached the ground floor. "Are you all alone, Momo-senpai?" he approached the desserts expert. "Where are the others?"
"So-myan and Etsu-myan have already left for the venue." Momo replied.
"What about Tsukasa-senpai and Kobayashi-senpai?" Takumi inquired.
"They're still resting in their rooms." Momo answered. "In order to recover as fast as possible."
"Is Saitō-senpai okay?" Souma wondered.
"So-myan did mizugori last night and this morning." Momo explained. "That apparently took care of his fatigue."
"He threw cold water on himself?" Souma gawked.
"In the dead of winter in Hokkaido?" Takumi winced. "I'm pretty sure that would just worsen his condition."
"So-myan is fine, Taku-myan." Momo assured.
"Taku-myan?" Takumi gaped.
"That's the nickname I just gave you." Momo explained. "I really love cute things. And sweets are the cutest of all foods. That's why I became a pâtissier. So when I want to refer to someone, I want to do it in a cute way. Taku-myan, Isa-myan, and Niku-myan. It's really nice that your names end in 'mi'. It's really cute. Teru-nyan also has an 'n' in his name, so I can use 'nyan'. I like that a lot. I like your name, too." sh turned to Souma. "It's Souma, so it also has an 'm' sound. I can use 'myan' since your name has the 'm' sound, so you're 'So-myan'. But then, you'd be the same as our So-myan. So you'll be Yūki-hyan."
"Akanegakubo-senpai sure is talking a lot today." Megumi noted.
"She's pretty shy for a while since you first meet her." Isshiki explained. "But once she gets used to you, she's a senpai who loves to talk. Though, she like admiring cute things, it also means she's looking down on you. She only gives those nicknames to those she considers beneath her. I'm sure you'd experienced it first-hand, haven't you, Hakuizumi-hime?"
"Just once." Ami replied. "She started using my surname after I defeated her in an official competition."
"Megu-myan." Momo approached her opponent. "Good luck today."
"It's been three months since we last faced off against each other, hasn't it, Akanegakubo?" Ami came to Megumi's aid. "It's too bad your opponent this time isn't me, otherwise," she gave her long-time competitor a mocking smile. "I would've handed you your tenth consecutive defeat."
"Your wins are flukes." Momo fumed.
"All nine wins?" Ami tsked. "Don't kid yourself, Akanegakubo. You were never on my level."
Momo just snorted and turned her head before walking off.
"Was it really necessary to rile Akanegakubo-senpai up like that?" Megumi looked at her older cousin.
In the arena...
"Today is a sunny day." Urara began.
"Were you able to rest well last night, Eizan?" Saitō asked. "Our opponents may be underclassmen, but they are formidable. Let us face their challenge in high spirits."
"My spirits are plenty high and I'm raring to go." Eizan smirked. "I'm ready to murder that bastard."
"Are you that worried about the match you drew yesterday?" Saitō chuckled.
"I was planning on crushing Yukihira." Eizan sneered.
"Those are the matches they chose." Saitō reminded. "Our opponents are our juniors. Letting them choose is a part of Bushido."
"I'll just use this rage on who I'm up against today." Eizan shrugged.
"Good morning, everyone." Urara chirped. "The first card of the third bout: despite being from a dumpy diner and having no right to be in Tōtsuki in the first place, this annoying jerk managed to get this far. His opponent is the last samurai of the modern age. He sushi chef who swore fealty to Central. Saitō Sōmei vs. Yukihira Souma! As for the theme of the first match... he got butter." she announced after Souma snatched up the butter card.
"Then, I shall make kaisendon." Saitō decided.
On the sidelines...
"Kaisendon with butter?" Yoshino gawked.
"Is that a thing?" even Mito was bewildered.
In the arena...
"What a coincidence." Souma grinned. "I'm planning on a rice dish myself."
"Next up, the second match." Urara continued. "Born and raised in Italy and in Japan now; do his blue eyes see his own destruction? His opponent is the ghost of money and gourmet. He's made countless chefs bend at the knee with his power. Eizan Etsuya vs. Takumi Aldini. Whet theme are they going to pull? Beef." she declared after Takumi pulled out the theme card.
"Hello there, Eizan Etsuya-senpai." Takumi started. "I have to thank you for everything you did for me at the Autumn Elections."
"And now of the third match." Urara continued. "Western sweets, Japanese sweets, anything goes. The professional sweets maker, Akanegakubo Momo. And the student who just about got expelled six months ago, they put Tadokoro Megumi against her. As for the theme, the classic winter fruit, apples."
"We've got apples." Momo spoke to her teddy bear at her work station. "What should we make, Bucchi? I'll make a super-duper cute dish that'll be so cute, it'll beat our enemy."
"Let's do this." Souma encouraged his group.
"Let's give it our all." Takumi agreed. "Are you all right, Tadokoro?" he inquired.
"Somewhat." Megumi nodded. "I'm going to do this."
"Everyone." Erina addressed the three first-years and sent them off with a nod.
"Megumi, just because your topic is apples, doesn't mean you have to stick to only red apples." Ami reminded. "Just a thought."
"Right." Megumi nodded.
"The difference in abilities is clear in this third bout." Urara was confident. "Let the preparations begin."
"Yukihira Souma, I'm not going to hold back." Saitō promised.
"Bring it on." Souma accepted the challenge head on.
"If you guys get stomped here, that'll leave only two rebels." Eizan bragged.
"That goes for you, as well." Souma reminded. "If you three get wiped out, you'll only have the two exhausted left."
"Keep dreaming." Eizan mocked. "Don't think the same thing will happen again."
"Senpai-tachi, you probably shouldn't underestimate us first-years like that." Souma warned.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Grins* Don't you just love plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.