SailorStar9: After getting Chapter 49 out, this is Chapter 50 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: Official!Takumi/Ami, Souma/Megumi later, established!Isami/Makoto
Chapter 50: Surpassing Dad
At the start of the Asahi vs. Souma match...
"Hell yeah!" Daigo cheered, waving a banner.
"Yukihira, we're here, too!" Yoshino called out.
"We're turning this around!" Shōji called out.
"Kick his ass, Souma!" Makoto waved.
"Everyone." Megumi beamed.
"That's reassuring." Takumi was relieved.
"Perfect timing." Kuga grinned. "You must be pretty proud of your juniors, Isshiki. And you were helping Yukihira-chin yesterday, weren't you, Tsukassan?"
"I was." Tsukasa replied. "I wanted to help him any way I could."
"I never would have imagined they'd be up doing cooking battles all night." Megumi sighed.
In the arena...
"Thanks, guys." Souma chuckled.
"Now then, I hate to do this when his gang's all here." Asahi adjusted his cap. "But I'm gonna have to make Yukihira look bad. You're worried about Erina-hime, aren't you? Do you really have time for distractions?"
"Distractions?" Souma snorted. "You can't be serious. I'm looking right at you."
"You know what this is, don't you?" Asahi brandished Jōichirō's knife. "I'm gonna end you with the superior version of your knife, your father's knife."
"I couldn't ask for anything better than you using my dad's knife." Souma grinned. "This fight's a way to finally surpass my dad. Using my own, my very own knife."
"Aren't the young urns quite lively." the Bookmaster was amused. "Excellent. That just means we need a theme worthy of your passion. There are cuisines known as the 'Five Grand Cuisines of the World'. There are many theories about them, but French, Chinese, Turkish, Indian, and Italian cooking. These five cuisines are probably the most impactful. Now your theme for this match will be all of them. You mat use any ingredients you like. You have 180 minutes. You're going to combine the Five Grand Cuisines into one dish and create the ultimate cuisine. Begin cooking."
In the audience...
"What?" Daigo gaped. "They have to combine all five of those into one?"
"How's that even possible?" Shōji was stunned.
"That's way too hard." even Yoshino agreed.
"I managed to combine the three best soups in the world at the BLUE Preliminaries." Marui stated. "But it's impossible to combine all five of the grand cuisines."
In the arena...
What the heck? Souma frowned. Each of those use completely different ingredients and cooking methods. And they want all of it in one dish?
"Come on now." Asahi chided. "You don't have that much time to think."
"Don't you seem confident." Souma fired back.
"I've got my Crossed Knives after all." Asahi bragged. "Cross!" he started chopping up his herbs.
In the audience...
"He chopped up ginger, green onions and those herbs in an instant." Marui was shocked at the speed.
"Now, he's adding them into chicken broth at such a high speed." Yoshino gawked.
"That's a spice grinder used in Indian cuisine." Ibusaki recognized the clay mortar and pestle.
"And by precisely heating those ground spices in oil, he's bringing out the active ingredients, resulting a wonderful aroma." Makoto stated.
"He's Crossing different things for every step he takes during prep." Mito exclaimed.
"It appears he's using even more Crosses than in his battle with me." Tsukasa noted.
"That's shark fin inside that steamer." Isami noticed the seafood.
"And now it looks like he's making a Chinese dish." Takumi added.
In the arena...
"Jōichirō, Cross!" Asahi merged Jōichirō's skills with the Claws of Black Death.
In the audience...
"He's running them through along the shark fin's fibers." Marui noticed.
"Even with authentic Chinese cuisine, you stew the shark fin in paitan soup or oyster sauce to enhance its flavor." Kuga remarked.
"By using those claws, he's able to let the flavors soak even more into the shark fin." Takumi pondered.
"That's..." Megumi gasped when Asahi brought out Tsukasa's grater.
In the arena...
"Jōichirō Cross, Tsukasa Eishi." Asahi swapped out the Claws of Black Death.
In the audience...
"He's grating the butter at super high speed." Mito gasped.
"He's enriched his cooking methods even more than any match we've seen." Megumi remarked.
"He's an incredible chef who can master any preparation method or tool in an instant." even Isami was stunned.
"By Crossing things with Jōichirō's talents, he's become even more precise." Takumi hissed.
"But will he be able to handle this mentally?" Makoto wondered outloud. "The entire balance of flavors will be ruined with only one slip of concentration."
In the arena...
"Hypothetically, let's say there's a chef who wandered in the culinary world, lost his way and got swallowed up by the storm." Asahi stated. "I'd be able to get much further than that man. I'd leave that storm in no time. I can come up with a new dish or anything else I want. Am I wrong?"
"That's good." Souma grinned. "I feel better now. I mean, at first glance, you've got a decent chance. But it's basically a cheat codes version of all the training we've done, right? That means we're still somewhat on the same level. So I guess I'd better hurry up and catch up."
"That is exactly what makes you so naive." Asahi snorted. "Go ahead and try if you think you can."
"Just we wait, Saiba Asahi." Souma accepted the challenge.
Meanwhile, at a deserted harbor somewhere...
"Are you sure this is the place, Hayama?" Kurokiba asked his stakeout partner, peering scanning the area with a pair of binoculars.
"According to Eizan-senpai's intel, yes." Hayama replied.
"The BLUE should just about be getting to that point..." Kurokiba noted.
"Yeah." Hayama grinned. "Yukihira and the leader of Noir are about to go head-to-head."
In the arena...
"I guess this is the least I'm gonna have to do." Souma decided on his dish.
"Looks like you finally narrowed down your menu." Asahi remarked.
"Actually, I'd say it's sorta of all over the place now, rather than narrowed down." Souma corrected. "I'm gonna make a dish for each of the Five Grand Cuisines, meaning I'm gonna make five in total. And after that, I'm gonna cram all of them together. That'll be my completed dish."
In the audience...
"What the heck is he talking about?" Daigo exclaimed.
"Somehow, I just know it'll boil down to this." Makoto shook her head. "Give him hell, Souma!"
In the arena...
"This probably isn't the time to try anything risky, Yukihira." Asahi warned. "I'd rather not win by default here. It's obvious you're gonna fail."
"And it's when there's a chance of failure that you'll find a true opportunity." Souma shot back. "If I don't try something no one else would've tried, I'm not gonna be able to make this dish."
In the audience...
"Yukihira, are you sure you can pull this one off?" Mito wondered.
"It's truly like trying to grasp at clouds." Takumi agreed. "But if he succeeds, he might really be able to make a dish no one on this planet has ever seen before."
"That's..." Makoto gasped, seeing the trail of crimson emitting from Souma's eyes. "Zone... I see. It's been so long since I've seen him like this."
"That's not just French." Marui saw the pots Souma had on the stove.
"He's preparing an Italian stock, too." Sakaki blinked.
"And he's got various Chinese seasonings." Ibusaki noted.
"He's marinating the lamb used in Turkish cuisine." Megumi remarked.
"The foundation of Indian cuisine." Isshiki added. "Starter spices."
"The world's Five Grand Cuisines..." Takumi breathed. "He's really preparing a dish for each one. He's brazenly charging forward."
"Saiba Asahi has completed his dish first." Shōji shouted, seeing Asahi was the first to step towards the judges' table.
"To think he looks so exhausted after using his Crossed Knives so much." Megumi was stunned.
"Looks like Ami-imouto's hypothesis was right." Isshiki nodded. "It was quite mentally and physically taxing to keep continuing using Crossed Knives; much more so in this match that includes the essences of all Five Grand Cuisines in a single dish."
In the arena...
"Time's up!" Lanterby declared.
"All right!" Souma managed to complete his dish in the nick of time.
In the audience...
"Yay!" the Polar Star residents cheered.
At the judges' table...
"Not bad." Asahi praised. "You actually managed to slide in. but it all comes down to taste."
"We will now begin the tasting." Lanterby announced. "The three Bookmen who will be judging this round are entering the arena."
"What's going on?" Charme gasped, as the aroma from Asahi's dish whiffed out from the cover. "Saiba Asahi's dish is covered with a cloche, but the aroma's still leaking out."
"I've never smelled an aroma like this before." Courage gushed. "It's so full-bodied and elegant."
"I couldn't possibly wait any longer." Decora gaped. "We'll try this dish first."
In the audience...
"What the hell is that?" Daigo and Shōji exclaimed after Charme removed the cover.
"Is that..." Makoto frowned. "Basty?"
At the judges' table...
"Please use a spoon to break open the pie." Asahi requested. "Then mix the sauce and filling with the crust as you eat. Would you like some as well, Bookmaster?"
In the castle keep...
"Procure his dish for me." Mana requested.
At the judges' table...
"The filling contains carrots, gingko nuts, shiitake mushrooms and similar things." Charme broke the pie crust.
"Shark fin stewed to the point that it melts in my mouth." Courage squealed. "I can't hold back. It's melting so hot on my tongue." she took a bite.
"The pie crust is French, and inside, we have Chinese shark fin." Decora added. "The chicken broth is seasoned with Indian spices, giving it an elegant aroma.
In the audience...
"Kino-san guessed right." Marui concurred. "It's a local dish from Nagasaki Prefecture, considered part of Shippoku cuisine. It's most notable dish is a soup with a lattice crust on top, the basty."
At the judges' table...
"This pie made use of the techniques he stole from Tsukasa Eishi." Courage marveled. "Coarsely grating the butter before mixing it with the flour creates a perfect harmony in the pie crust."
"Because the butter melted so evenly throughout, the mouthfeel is light and crispy, making it soak up the soup even more." Charme added.
In the audience...
"Looks like Saiba Asahi ended up even stronger after he stole my grater." Tsukasa admitted.
"No, I don't think that's all there is to this." Isshiki corrected.
At the judges' table...
"What's this filling?" Courage gaped, pulling out a ravioli on her fork. "It looks like Italian ravioli. What's inside?" she took a bite.
In the audience...
"It stretched?" Yoshino gaped at the mochi-like filling inside the pastry.
"What the heck is that?" Daigo exclaimed.
"That's dondurma." Makoto replied. "Or what we normally call Turkish ice cream. It's made mainly from salep, a flour made from roots of certain orchids, which has a thick, stretchy texture."
At the judges' table...
"The chewiness of the ravioli pairs with the gumminess and becomes something irresistible." Asahi bragged.
"Pie crust, shark fin, Indian spices, ravioli and dondurma." Courage remarked. "He used the techniques of many chefs to create a brand new flavor."
"All these things would usually clash." Decora noted. "But they're in perfect harmony here. This is a dish whose components should never work so well together."
In the castle keep...
"Here you are, Bookmaster." Anne presented Mana Asahi's dish.
In the audience...
"What is this sound?" Sakaki wondered when the booming of the 'Gifting' was heard in the air.
At the judges' table...
"What's going on?" Lanterby gaped at the clothes flying about in the air.
In the audience...
"Gifting?" Daigo and Shōji exclaimed, remembering the phenomenon.
"I thought only the Nakiris could use Gifting." Marui gaped. "So why..."
At the judges' table...
"How do you like that, Yukihira?" Asahi mocked. "This is what the top of BLUE looks like. And I'm the one who's going to take the first Seat in the next generation of the culinary world."
"I'm not sure what is going on, but we should continue the tasting." Lanterby stated.
"I'm so satisfied, I can't even move." Decora shuddered.
"Yukihira, it's your turn." Asahi remarked. "Let's see your dish that combines the Five Grand Cuisines. I wonder what it could be."
"Glad you asked." Souma grinned. "And here's your answer. Fried rice." he lifted the cover.
"Good grief." Asahi sighed. "Where do I even start? Remember how the judges didn't even look at your dish because of the aroma from mine? My dish is clearly superior in every way. You really went f=with fried rice? Don't make me..." what's with this fried rice? He stopped himself. Something's wrong.
"You're supposed to be judging." Lanterby tried to force a spoon into Courage's mouth. "So, at least take a bite. Here." she fed Courage.
"The rich pork flavor that lands on your tongue with a thump." Decora scuffed down the fried rice. "This must be Chinese dongpo pork chopped in fine pieces."
"To make sure I stew it in time, I tenderized the meat with sparkling water." Souma explained.
"He also included seafood from an Italian aqua pazza, and it's making my taste buds dance." Charme gushed.
"Diced green beans and shredded coconut are fried in oil with chilies and mustard seeds." Courage squealed.
"Then, he added the French mirepoix." Decora recognized the next ingredient. "The sweetness of those vegetables is clashing and sparking in my mouth. And the biggest factor that makes this dish so delicious is in the rice."
"Because it's not fried with oil in the end, all these ingredients come together nicely, and we can keep eating with ease." Charme remarked.
"Every grain of rice is so distinct." Courage was amazed. "You'd think it'd be mushier if it was steamed in stock."
"That's because I cooked the rice in a donabe stone pot." Souma related.
"Using a Turkish pilaf as the cornerstone," Decora started. "He added the soft Chinese dongpo pork, seafood from the Italian aqua pazza."
"Then the spicy Indian poriyal." Courage added. "And the French mirepoix."
"It's a special fried rice with all of those powers combined." Charme was impressed.
"He must have steamed the pilaf in the aqua pazza stock." Decora realized. "That's what brought all these flavors together."
"The kick from spices in the poriyal is lessened by the butter and soy sauce, while enhancing the flavors of the dongpo pork and mirepoix." Courage added.
"Everything is clashing so much, yet it creates an exquisite taste." Charme gushed.
In the audience...
"Yeah, we're used to this." Yoshino chuckled.
"It seems like a mess..." Sakaki agreed.
"But he turns a dish no one's ever seen before." Mito added.
Back at the deserted harbor...
"Remember, Kurokiba?" Hayama asked. "Tsukasa-senpai said that last year, Yukihira challenged the third-years to Shokugekis over and over. Right up until they graduated."
"And he lost over and over, too." Kurokiba recalled.
"When facing someone above them, people tend to get either really worked up or distraught." Hayama added. "But he never even worried about losing his pride."
"It's like he's didn't have anything to lose." Kurokiba noted. "He just went at them, ready to lose it all."
"With a smile on his face the whole time." Hayama nodded. "Looks like they are here." he spotted their targets.
"We're just gonna do what we have to do." Kurokiba smirked.
"Right." Hayama agreed and the two jumped into action. "We're leaving the BLUE to you."
"To our generation's head honcho!" Kurokiba declared.
At the judges' table...
"Bookmaster, wanna try my dish too?" Souma asked. "This dish might be connected to that dish you want that's never been seen before."
In the castle keep...
"Very well." Mana relented. "Bring me a bucket. I must be prepared just in case my body doesn't tolerate this dish well." this awkwardness... she frowned. This is... she took a spoonful. "What?" she exclaimed. "I never could've imagined this exquisite flavor. I'll filling my mouth. My brain. My nose. It keeps rising."
At the judges' table...
"I knew it." Asahi sighed. "That's why I had that awkward feeling. Despite the fact that this fried rice uses so much spice, butter and soy sauce, you could barely smell it."
"The secret lies in the slightly bizarre oeuf mayonnaise I whipped up." Souma explained.
In the audience...
"Oeuf mayonnaise..." Megumi started. "A popular dish at French bistros."
"Hard-boiled eggs with a runny center are coated with a homemade mayonnaise and garnished with vegetables." Takumi recalled.
In the castle keep...
"The eggs Yukihira Souma used in this dish are soft-boiled and gooey." Mana noted. "He then took special mayonnaise, as well as the eggs, and blended them into the sauce, coating every single grain of rice to trap in the flavor. By flipping the rice over and over in the wok at extremely high temperatures and speed. It's such a thin veil of egg that's almost impossible to notice at first glance." she added as Charme picked up a rice grain on his finger. "It basically makes every single grain of an exquisite, miniature omurice. As a result, the moment you bite into the fried rice, the coating is broken and all that flavor and aroma bursts onto your tongue."
At the judges' table...
"Yup." Souma grinned. "This dish hides its fangs when it's first served and then attacks the customer at full power once it's consumed. You should know what this is, don't you, Mako-chan?" he turned to his cousin and raising a fist.
In the audience...
"Grandfather Kazusato's Odorless Fried Rice." Makoto beamed, returning the raised fist. "The one dish Auntie Tamako could never get a hang of."
At the judges' table...
"I learned it from a chef I know." Souma stated. "My mom, from one of her failed dishes. The first dish my mom ever taught me and Mako-chan was also fried rice. Saiba Asahi, without a doubt, you've got plenty of amazing tools and can probably make any flavors you want. But there's one flavor I know about that you don't. The taste of failure. That's the cornerstone of this dish."
"Talentless losers like you sure say some amazing things." Asahi taunted. "The taste of failure? I sure the hell don't know it. What's that supposed to mean? How stupid. I'm the best. And the best doesn't need something like that."
In the audience...
"That sound..." Megumi blinked when the trumping of the Gifting sounded again. "Is it the Gifting?"
"No!" Mito, Sakaki, Yoshino and Makoto squealed when the Gifting pulse rippled towards them.
"She had the same reaction." Megumi gaped. "Then..."
"Who's the victor?" Takumi asked.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Grins* Don't you just love plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.