Food War
Kitsuki awoke with a silent whimper, her head lurching in a sharp pain, reaching for a memory only to watch it vanish and slip away. She did not know what it was, only that she knew her body wished for the memory to come back, despite it being out of reach.
Her stomach twisted in on itself as the pain grew in her head, and she pressed her ears flat against her hair as she felt a sudden rush of soothing warmth fill the void just beneath them. The twisting stopped soon after, but it wasn't like she had anything in her stomach anyway. Her stomach growled at her as she pouted and looked around, large fox ears slowly rising as she noticed the sun peeking in through the single window to her right. She took a tiny hold of the edge of the blanket covering her and adjusted it slightly, before pushing into the mattress and sliding into a sitting position with her back against her pillow.
Her three fox tails returned to her after getting comfortable, wrapping around her small frame as she glanced down to the empty spot on the bed beside her, wondering where the young immortal had gone.
Her golden-orange eyes stared in confusion for a few moments before looking up and finding Dante sitting in a chair by her bed. His eyes currently switched back and forth between his holographic screen, HoloScroll as he called it, listening to the news while reading a thick, black leather bound book, quickly flipping through the aged and dry pages. Kitsuki forced herself to read the text backwards the news channel displayed, watching as a woman giving the weather report for the week.
"So, you're awake. That's good. Did you sleep well?" Dante said, glancing momentarily away from his HoloScroll as he slid his finger upwards slightly to turn up the volume.
Thanks to that, Kitsuki was finally able to hear what was being broadcasted. Storms seemed to be culminating across the skies throughout the majority of Vale and its surrounding villages. Discrepancies and anomalies in the weather patterns were amassing at an unnatural rate, originating from some sort of epicenter that's too clouded to accurately pinpoint or view normally.
The storms are originating from somewhere south of Vale...
Given the Dark Omens I've seen through news reports, unnatural cold weather and lighting storms, Zeridûl must have set up base around there. That, and he must have blanketed the rift from prying eyes… He's playing it smart. At least, for now he is.
Another thought soon entered the young immortals mind, remember last night's "scare".
"Ahem…" he started as he cleared his throat, "I have to apologize for that rather...um...abnormal display. Even after so long I still have a problem…" he said finishing softly, referring to last nights lightning storm.
"It's alright. You were just as scared as I was. And...it helped having someone there." Kitsuki signed out as she continued to listen in with her heightened hearing, something she didn't realize she did out of instinct rather trying to do so.
She still retained her instincts, knowledge, and thought processes from before. It was just her memory that was the main issue.
"It helped, huh..? Well, seeing as you haven't been reacting to me like you did before, I think I can safely assume that you don't see that scary form of mine?" the teen asked.
Kitsuki gave him a small nod, glancing slightly at him now before looking back to the sheets in her lap. She missed Dante suddenly give a fist pump in the air with a silent "Yes!"
"Good, that's good."
"What… What was that form of yours if it's not how you actually look like?" she signed out.
"Hmmm… Well, in the shortest explanation possible, it's my trump card so to speak. One of my toughest abilities. Besides scaring the enemy to the point where they have to change their underwear, it dramatically increases all of my parameters for the amount of time I'm using it. Luckily, it doesn't need to draw on my Aura after I fully form it, or do partial transformations. The only time it does is when I have to fix any damaged areas. Even then it's very difficult to so much as scratch given it's high defensive capabilities. Ever since I've first used it, I dubbed it as my Shadow Skin!" He said proudly standing up with his hands on his hips.
Kitsuki smiled at his rather silly display. But she another another question in mind, one she kept to herself. Why was it that she saw a different version compared to the one in the picture Inuba showed her? Was it a mistake? Or maybe a small discrepancy in perception?
"In any case, you probably haven't eaten in a while. So...I'll have Inuba's cook up something for you from the school's kitchen. Her food is just heavenly if you've never had it before, so you're in for a real treat."
"To be honest, I can't remember what most foods taste like. Or, what most foods are. I think I might if I saw it, but I can't say for sure." Kitsuki signed back with a meek little smile, something that brought a small, brief visual reaction out of Dante.
His eyes widened for just that moment, as if realizing something.
For someone who's having trouble even remembering the taste of certain foods…would something as delicious as Inuba's cooking give her a flavor overload? But this might be a good chance to help out Kitsuki a bit. Maybe jog her memory slightly.
He suddenly switched his attention to his HoloScroll and sent Inuba a quick message, asking her to cook Kitsuki something light and warm, with herbs used as a base for the meal, a good way to soothe the stomach while warming and satisfying the person being served. In this case, he wanted to be careful just in case the other dish was overwhelming for the smaller kitsune.
"Well, we'll be able to see if you recognize the dishes that'll be ready within the next few minutes. Inuba just messaged me back when she might be done."
Dante then closed the tabs on his HoloScroll, turning his attention back to the fox-yōkai on the bed.
"This may sound weird since we've only just met one another, but I have something I need to ask of you. A small request, if you're willing to listen."
Kitsuki took a moment to wonder what Dante was going on about, but she nodded slightly at the end as she turned her ears partially in his direction.
"Please don't tell anyone about how I was last night. Very few people have seen me in such a…vulnerable state, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Why do you want to keep it a secret?"
"Well...it's…it's not so much wanting to keep it a secret... I'd rather just leave it be something nobody knows about. It's...embarrassing to say the least. And above all that, it's a weakness I'd rather not have widely known."
"Okay, I won't tell anyone. But what about the two people who heard you squealing last night?"
Her innocent question brought a sudden grimace to Dante's face as he suddenly looked toward the door with a rather diabolical look, as if he were planning something.
One of them had to be Inuba... But who was the other? Someone who knew about Kitsuki being in this room… Someone who knew them in person but also recognized Inuba by appearance. Or maybe they stuck around to ask her why she was here. This wing is locked down as is and blocked off from student access except for a select few...
"If you're wondering about who it was, it was Xera." Kitsuki signed out, catching Dante's attention and, simultaneously, his curiosity and intrigue.
"You could sense him?" he asked, the look of worry passing from him completely as he set that aside for the time being.
Would he ever exploit my weakness? No, he wouldn't… Would he..?
"I wasn't able to recognize Inuba's Aura Signature at first, but I guessed she would be keeping an eye on us from outside. But somehow...I was able to know for certain that the other was Xera. It felt…familiar. And I recognized it immediately, even after he left." she signed with a look of trepidation and confusion, finishing with her last statement as she cast her eyes back to Dante to see if he had anything to say.
Not exactly sure of Xera being a Seer… But Kitsuki definitely has to be one. She saw my...well...alternate form from the church that I used. Without me actually using it too. The only other person I've ever seen do that is Abby… All in all, Kitsuki's Aura Sensing definitely seems to be finely tuned. Though I suppose it's a natural occurrence with kitsune having strong sensory abilities. Mine aren't as good as Inuba's, but she's been helping me improve… Let's see…
Dante moved his face closer to Kitsuki, staring at her as if he were examining her.
The kitsune reflexively leaned back as soon as he leaned in, trusting him moreso than before, but not enough to so close.
"W-What are you doing..?"
He reached out slowly with his only good arm and began rubbing one of Kitsuki's ears.
The girl's tails suddenly whipped out and stood on end, twitching slightly as they swept back and forth against the sheets all of a sudden as she struggled to figure out what he was doing.
"W-Why are you..?"
Her other fox ear drooped slightly as her tongue lulled out again like it did for Ciel and Skyla, letting the final word she was going to sign out fall to her lap.
Her ears are definitely real…
He looked over her shoulder at her giant fluffy tail that was really a combination of three tails. He then began to rub it gently.
Kitsuki suddenly went stiff as her tails stopped moving, her small body shaking for a moment as a hot shiver ran from the tips of her tails to the ends of her ears, shrinking away from Dante's gentle grasp as she suddenly disappeared. A gentle breeze swept through the room, as if a window had cracked open, before Dante turned and saw Kitsuki sitting on her heels on the opposite side of the bed.
She had her tails in her hands, holding them against her chest as she fixed him with a cautious, flushed gaze from just over their furry lengths.
She's definitely a Kitsune… Usually doing something like that to an illusionist or someone pretending to be a kitsune through the use of magic reverts them to their original form. The reason I even doubted it in the first place is that I find it somewhat hard to believe there'd be an authentic Kitsune on Remnant… Especially since they practically only come from Primordial unless there's another World that has them… And that just now… That was wind… No kitsune ever uses wind magic unless it's in conjunction with an attack alongside a crow tengu.
The young immortal quickly looked around the room to attempt and confirm his theory.
All the doors and windows are closed… I see now… She must have an Affinity. A Wind Affinity to be more specific. How odd...
"Sorry about that… I was… What's the term again…? Ah, right. Appraising you to make sure you're the real deal. I ran into a rather annoying case back then with a string of fast kitsune so, it helps to make sure. That, and you don't find too many of your kind out and about. Really rare if you ask me. That makes you special."
Despite Kitsuki's fur running on end as her instincts flared still, telling her to still be cautious, she slowly loosened her tight, protective grip over her tails and signed a response.
"Rare? Are there…not that many of my kind at all?"
Her ears drooped slightly, wondering what something like that entailed. She didn't feel very special right now. She felt like a target.
"Well… Not here per say. Where I come from, there's tens of thousands of your kind. It's really an incredible thing. As for where I come from…well… I'm not from this World. And Reality in general. I think it's one of the reasons why a few of the others think I'm so suspicious."
"Really?" Kitsuki asked, tilting her head again as she took in his appearance.
He didn't really look all that different. Were other Realities the same as her own, or were they different? How exactly did that work?
She suddenly blurred out of sight again, vanishing completely before moments later Dante found his shirt completely lifted, nearly off his head, as Kitsuki reappeared in front of him and stared at what she'd found for a few moments.
She didn't know what she was expecting to see. Maybe something that proved what he said, but everything just looked normal. That was until she poked him with her finger, which turned out to be a slight mistake given she poked his ribs with some force. It felt like her finger hit a metal wall.
"Careful now…" said Dante chuckling, "My bones are special, so don't go poking too hard and hurt yourself."
"Why are your bones so special?"
"Um… They're black bones!"
"Black bones..?"
"Mhmm. Bones that are colored pitch black and look like shiny metal. And are indestructible."
"They don't break?!"
"Never in my life have I ever had a broken bone. I thought at first it was because of all the milk I drank by the gallon per day, but then I saw deep layer scans of my body meant to observe my skeletal structure, and found out then that my bones were black. We found out later they were indestructible after running loads of tests on them. With lasers."
Were it not for Kitsuki's inability to speak, the young immortal was sure she would have let out an audible "woah~".
And so, she let his shirt fall back down as she crawled back a foot or two and sat on her heels again, regarding him with a small, disappointed look.
"Is that really possible? I don't really know much about this World right now, so I don't really have much of a sense as to what's possible and what's not..." she admitted.
"Well, for starters, not everyone is completely different. Both externally and...well...internally." Dante said, chuckling as he fixed his shirt, "People can be of the same variety. Or not. Some people might not exist in another Reality, but we wouldn't know that unless we really looked hard. For instance, there's a chance you might exist in my Reality. Or not. But don't get all frustrated about that. Truth is, no other Reality is fake or an illusion. They're all universes that branch off from one another. Mine to be more exact. Apparently from what I've been told, my Reality is the original Reality where everything else stemmed and branched out from it."
"That sounds a little self-conceded to really think a Reality is an original. How do you know nothing's clashing with it from another angle? Or if there's something beyond what you currently understand in your own realm of thought and relativity?" Kitsuki responded, using words out of instinct rather than thinking too far into what she was going to respond with.
It was almost as if her sign language was her primary way of speaking, even if she only learned it yesterday.
"Don't look at me." Dante said, holding up his hand innocently, "I only know what I know because I learned it all in The Plane of Angels. Heaven for short."
Heaven… That almost sounded like a word Kitsuki knew but didn't know anything beyond recognizing its importance. She knew it had to mean something significant, she felt that much for sure, but she had no idea what to think beyond that minor thought.
"But isn't this Plane of Angels only in relation to the creation of your sentient Worlds? Isn't it fair to think something unrelated created the Reality you're visiting, here, right now? With a simple link between them under some unforeseeable agreement that allows those from one to exist with those in another?" Kitsuki asked with a confused stare.
She didn't know why, but she felt a little…off, thinking that some other Creator wanted to claim credit for her existence.
"Well, here's the kicker. Each Reality has a different Crestor. A different God. So forth and so on. Each Creator is different in each Reality, but each of them knows of the existence of their other in another Reality. For us, it all started with The Plane of Angels. Ar that time, The Creator just…existed. He made the Angels and all the other Worlds and Realities. The Angels were like his helpers, so they needed a home first before he could make all the other Worlds and the people who live in them. Honestly, you'd be right to be skeptical, especially hearing this from someone you've practically met only yesterday. Truthfully…I was just as skeptical as you were at first oh so long ago. I never really thought he existed at all. And that was mainly because of all the horrible things I experienced throughout my lifetime so far. But he's real alright. At one point…when everything seemed to be at an end…I felt him. Although he was gone for thousands upon thousands of years… He was back… If only for a few moments..."
Kitsuki slowly nodded her head, realizing her trust in his words didn't run deep enough to fully believe what he was saying. There may have been some merit to his words, and she realized that he believed them himself, every word he spoke. But, the feeling she felt before, it still lingered.
From where he's from, that logic may very well be the truth. But, she couldn't help but feel there was something different for where she currently resided. She wondered if there was something else in the making for her own Reality that his 'Creator' had no control over…but still maintained some amount of relation to.
In any case, her fox ears flicked slightly as she recognized the sound of footsteps, closely followed by an aura signature approaching from the hallway. Her little nose scrunched up momentarily as well, a new aroma filling the stale air of the infirmary room before her mouth naturally began to water.
"What's that amazing smell?"
"Heaven on a plate. The best food you will ever eat." he replied quickly with a wink.
"But you just said Heaven was a place? How can you put that on a plate?" Kitsuki asked, confused again.
He laughed to himself.
"It's a figure of speech. It's so good it may as well be Heaven. What? Was my joke that bad?"
"A…joke?" she responded again, not really following.
"Humor through usage of words and sometimes physical expression. We tell or perform jokes either to relieve stress or to simply brighten up the mood a bit. Sadly, jokes are the one thing that I'm still bad at."
"But, that doesn't make any sense. Aren't you really bad at dying?" Kitsuki asked genuinely, well, as much as that was possible given her sign language.
Yet again he laughed.
"That might actually be true. But you see Kitsuki… I… am immortal!" he said, proudly placing his only good hand on his hip.
"I'm still confused… After your little sister and Skyla's partner were dragged off by Inuba, she explained to me that you died momentarily when I asked why you were on the ground. Was she wrong?"
"Momentarily, though. I came back to life. And besides, that was an exception in part because of you." he said rubbing the top of her head gently.
Her fox ears folded against her head as she closed her eyes for a moment, shaking his fingers from her hair a few seconds later as she opened her eyes again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill you… I don't really know how, though. Did I forget something again?"
That thought scared her. Was her mind so fragile it was continuing to shred memories, even if they were current?
"No no! Don't think of it as a bad thing! If anything…it's a good thing, and a compliment in most cases."
"It's a good thing…that I killed you?" She was even more confused now.
"Well, in my case it's okay since I'm me and can't really stay dead. But, it's good because that means you're cute."
"How does that relate to anything?"
Kitsuki's confusion didn't diminish, despite the door to the room opening and Inuba stepping inside. She balanced a large, rectangular silver tray with what looked like stubby legs at its corners on one hand as she closed the door behind her, regarding the two in the room with a polite smile.
On top of the tray seemed to rest two similarly colored domes of sorts. Kitsuki realized she couldn't really smell what was what, but she knew the aroma was coming from those shiny domes.
"Pardon me for coming in during your conversation. It sounds as though you're getting along together just splendidly." said Inuba.
She was glad about that. It hurt her to see Dante so crushed by the simple idea of Kitsuki seeing him in such a dark way. She wasn't wrong when she said his feelings do get hurt rather easily. He was just good at hiding it. Sometimes anyway.
"It's going good." Dante replied to Inuba apologetically before turning back to the smaller kitsune, "But to answer your question, a lot of things. For one, it means that a majority of people will see you in a higher light. Or whatever the term is. In short, they like you more than usual."
Kitsuki turned her gaze back to Dante and tilted it again, "I don't think I like the sound of that."
"Why not? It's a good thing! Trust me!"
"I don't think I want to anymore…"
Kitsuki admitted before she watched Inuba walk up to the side of her bed, resting the tray of domes down onto its surface.
"I hope you enjoy it." Inuba said for before lifting the domes from their positions above the food.
It all looked delicious, but Kitsuki didn't recognize anything on either of the plates.
"The one on your left is a take on a Steak Don. It has a tenderized sirloin as the main component, only I tenderized it with onions and topped it with a glaze created through wine and the juices left in the cooking pan. In the rice beneath I mixed in small amounts of pickled plums for a small refreshing taste."
Kitsuki slowly nodded, her mouth speaking more words than it could ever vocalize as it watered at the very scent of the food before her.
When Dante couldn't help himself and reached forward, his hand was promptly smacked away by Inuba without even sparing a glance, prompting an "ouch!" from him as he shook his hand off.
I'm starting to think it's better if I tell her she actually hurts…
"On the right is a carefully crafted curry with herbal-like qualities due to the fresh and dry spices and herbs I used."
Kitsuki slowly nodded, reaching slowly for the nearest spoon and taking a small spoonful of the curry first. She was afraid of trying the heavier dish, just in case she couldn't handle it, even though every fiber of her being wanted her to eat both.
She was about to take a small sip when Inuba raised her hand to stall her, taking that moment to transfer the heat from the dish Kitsuki chose first and absorb it into a small ball of white flame.
"I had almost forgotten. Your senses may yet still be sensitive. But your dish should be at a desirable temperature now, so please, continue." She explained, letting the flame vanish as Kitsuki nodded again.
As soon as Kitsuki took one bite of the curry, she promptly passed out from overload of flavor. The duo had a sleeping kitsune on their hands yet once more, while Dante dived into the rest of the food, the dishes not lasting for more than four seconds.
"Hehehehehehehehehe…"
"M-Master..?" asked Inuba slightly concerned with his rather evil chuckle.
"Ciel owes me fifty lien now."
"Did someone say shokugeki?!" said Ciel as she snapped to, finishing the last of her buttered and maple syruped chocolate chip waffles.
Leonard looked to his sister awkwardly, before looking around the lunch room shortly after.
"No, I don't believe someone said that…" he replied.
"Leo!"
"Yes Ciel?"
"My… My…"
"Your..?"
"My nonsense senses are tingling!"
"Ah, I see…"
"Someone's challenged Foxy to a cook off…"
It was that moment that Leonard's fork dropped out of his hands and back down on the plate with a loud clatter, Ciel looking to Leonard to see a rather unusually shocked expression.
"What poor and unfortunate soul would ever do such a thing..?"
"I know, right? I mean, let's be honest. Inuba's cooking? No way in hell does anyone stand a chance against her."
"Well, who is the one undergoing this shokugeki against Inuba?"
"Just got a message about it… Some guy named Lie Ren?"
"Ah yes, Lie Ren. I hear he's quite the accomplished chef himself. Very famous for his usual work involving pancakes."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! So he's the pancake dude Nora talks about all the time… Right. Meh, my money is still on Foxy. She not only started cooking young, but has worked with Divine Chefs. Both from the Apparition World on Primordial where all the yokai live, and the one from The Plane of Angels."
"Even so, it would be most unwise to underestimate mr. Lie Ren. Pancakes aren't his only specialty."
"Yeah yeah yeah. So, who's your money on?"
"Oh, without a doubt Ms. Kitsukami, Ciel. I was only suggesting to give Lie Ren a chance at least."
"Even though Inuba's gonna win?"
"Although we may be certain of her victory, that does not mean it is a given fact considering she has never had a 'cook off' against him. For all we know, Lie Ren may just have a decent enough strategy to best her, as unlikely as it seems."
"Oh, got another message… Oh snap!"
"What is it?"
"Uh, we're starting soon and I've just been hired to do stuff."
"To do stuff?" asked Leonard questionably.
"Yup, later!"
With a quick flash of white and black Aura, Ciel had immediately vanished out of sight to go do her "stuff", leaving Leonard by himself.
"And she didn't even manage to give me the location… Brilliant…"
A test notification chimed on his HoloScroll, promoting Leo to bring up a small holographic square in front of him as he pressed on it, the small square expanding into 17 by 20 holographic screen that displayed a text message from Ciel.
"Thought I forgot for a second, huh? Ha! As if! Anyway, the shokugeki is in the auditorium. Be there in twenty minutes. Or be a square. Or a triangle. Or maybe even-"
Leonard closed the screen entirely and went back to eating his waffles. Though now, he had to rush slightly so that he could be there. It would be an event that no one would like to miss.
"Alright!"
Skyla's voice echoed from on high Beacon's auditorium, standing next to Ciel at one of the overseer desks. She had no idea where she was or how she got there, but she was excited and her amethyst eyes shined at the center stage.
"Are you ready for the greatest shokugeki Beacon has ever seen?!" Ciel called out at her recently found best friend's side, both girls wielding deadly loud microphones with splitting smiles of pure, unadulterated glee.
"A battle between chefs hasn't been held here for fourteen years… But! With the room recently cleaned and the food laid out at the adjacent stations," Skyla continued, waving dramatically in wide gestures to the assorted goods and the two contestants standing at each station.
"It will certainly be one for the ages!" Ciel finished, gesturing the other way.
They stood at the center of a raised platform, square in shape and surrounded by a sea of stands. A glowing, black scoreboard hung thickly from the ceiling, its four sides illuminated by holographic screens each panning around the stations below.
Four images, all separate, were transmitted into the feed as four camera orbs floated around at a safe distance, ready to capture the main event below.
"IS EVERYONE EXCITED?!" The two called out in unison, looking eagerly into the empty stands and the dark seats, all the way up to the far walls as each row was inclined up until reaching the furthest ones back.
In one, singular section sat their inner circle of friends and all those who were actually aware of the happenings as of late. Allix gave her teammate a double thumbs up from her seat beside Ruby, the young reaper giving the two announcers center stage an excited nod for her own support. The rest of the scythe wielder's team sat to their left, Yang and Blake holding two flags each that were fluttering back and forth as they waved them.
One was white with a black outline, a crimson eye of a fox designed into the front and back with what looked like ears protruding from the back end of the flag itself. The other was a dark green flag bordered by a black trim, a pink lotus designed into the front and back of it with a pink stripe running down the center as well.
"KICK HER FLUFFY BOOTY REN!" Nora hollered, hands cupped around her face to call out even louder as she nearly fell over the wall in front of her. If Leo hadn't been at her side, she undoubtedly would've fallen over the tall spectator wall to the ground and stations below. Behind Nora sat Pyrrha with CFVY sat at her other side.
"I can't see anything, but even I know who's going to win this..." said Yang.
"No way, Ren's got this in the bag!" Nora countered, throwing her fist into the air, "Come on Ren, you and Jaune don't have weekly cook-offs for nothing!"
"We believe in you, Ren!" Pyrrha called out as well.
"Oh, please..." Coco muttered, arms crossed and one leg resting over the other, "By comparison, the kitsune holds much more grace and delicacy in her culinary skills than the lotus."
"I don't know, they both seem equally likely to win..." Velvet spoke up from beside her.
"Normally I would agree with you, but experience has forced me to become slightly more biased towards Ms. Kitsukami." Leonard stated, "She has the advantage here."
"I wouldn't be so sure..." Velvet retaliated, turning her gaze to Leonard, "The goal here is to cook Kitsuki a dish crafted in such a way to help her eat and digest it without a problem, but keep it flavorful and pleasant as well. There are a lot of unknown factors here."
"That may be true." Leo spoke up from a few rows down, eyes trained up to the teens in their seats with one hand casually gripping Nora by the back of her collar to prevent her from falling, "Both parties of this cook-off are undoubtedly skilled in their culinary fields. But this is a very unique set of circumstances, and in the end, it can be either one's victory here. Although given Ms. Kitsukami's long history of cooking, the odds are in her favor."
"The squirt's right, but he's a little off about one itty bitty detail..." Yang waved her hand dismissively, twirling the flag Blake handed to her around her fingers as she fixed the white-haired sibling with a challenging smirk.
Squirt..? I'm not that much younger than you are…
"Ren's cooked for commoners, and Inuba's probably had a higher focus on cooking for royalty. There's a difference in their audiences."
"Yang has a point." Ruby perked up, "You don't cook the same dish you serve to a civilian just looking for a nice meal at a diner than you'd serve to a princess and the throne. They're two very different outlooks."
"They're right." Allix added, "Food at a diner is meant to be family friendly, filling, and satisfying. Food for an upper class has a different purpose. They build their food to amaze and tantalize the taste buds, giving them larger varieties to choose from rather than keeping things simple."
"Then I would have to say such assumptions are foolish on all of your parts. Inuba has experience cooking for those of all classes. She's cooked for family, for guests, and friends of all varieties." Leo informed, "Although her type of cooking is absolutely amazing, and of the highest class and quality in terms of skill, that does not mean her cooking is only restrained to one group of people. In short, she is able to cook for all types of people."
All eyes turned to center stage again as a flash of white light emitted from between the two girls staring up into the stands.
"I heard announcers! Where are they and what do they look like?" Ashton's voice suddenly filled the stage, a reflective white suit glimmering beneath the centralized spotlights from above as he swept his gaze around.
He was the announcer for the tournament when Dante and Inuba last visited. A very good one too. Though, he wasn't just your average announcer. This man, Ashton, was abnormal in every sense of the word. The fact he just suddenly showed up meant that he must have felt a disturbance in the world of announcers.
The new arrivals, Ciel and Skyla. He felt…challenged.
"Oh, hi~!" Skyla waved back at him as she stepped to the side, Dante's little sister stepping to the other side as she waved at him as well.
"What's up tuxedo man? Trying to upstage us?" Ciel asked, a layer of intimidation piercing through the tone of her voice.
"Ah, so it's you two..." he realized, white speckled, dark blue eyes glancing over the two young girls before him as he took his stride forward, "I believe it is you who is upstaging me. I funded this room and designed it. Is it not fair to want to announce in it as well?"
"Weeeell..." Skyla drew out as she tapped her head with the microphone, "Is it fair to want a game of checkers when you're hungry?"
"Exactly!" Ciel jumped in, "What you say makes no sense whatsoever, tuxedo man."
Ashton shook his sandy blonde hair as he crossed his arms.
"You have me beat. You're right, looks like I'll have to sit this one out. However..." He leaned down, a smirk chiseled by pride and success stretching across his face as he glanced at each girl individually, "You two need a mentor, do you not?"
"Pfft, I've seen enough of Shaxx's Crucible highlights on my big brother to know how to announce!" Ciel waved her mic dismissively.
"Oh? You know of Lord Shaxx?" Ashton asked, getting a quick nod from the white-haired girl in front of him. He straightened himself back up as his smile grew, "Did you know we were rivals in the League of Announcers?"
Ciel's eyes went wide, "No way! You two know each other?!"
"Of course, we both grew fascinated with shout casting. It was only a matter of time before we developed our own styles and began to compete with one another." Ashton's response was two parts reminiscent but one part frustrated, "I still remember our score. It's 561 to 561, a dead tie."
"You two competed over a thousand times?!" Skyla's astonishment fell off as quickly as her mic hit the ground, but she was quick to pick it back up.
"Would've been over three, but the officials were sticklers about the rules of an official shout cast. Those were only the official ones." Ashton responded, tapping his chin with his finger for a moment before glancing to the two contestants, then to the two in front of him, linking all the stray facts to conclude what was going down on stage this morning.
"I still don't believe it…" Ciel trailed off, sounding a little unsure on whether or not this was all true, "Dude's a living legend."
Ashton hummed, fixing the girl with another of his classic smirks full of pride and self-esteem.
"Young girl, hasn't anyone ever told you," He leaned back and turned slightly, showing everyone his good side as he flashed a cool smile, "all announcers know each other?"
Ciel needed to remind herself later to ask Dante about all this.
"That aside," Ashton continued, giving the two a courteous glance before nodding toward the long table positioned down a walkway at one edge of the raised platform, located beneath an archway overhang with its own set of lighting, "Have you introduced the judges yet?"
"Oh! Right!" The two girls quipped before turning to the stands and making opposite gestures with their hands, falling into a decent synchronization as they addressed the small crowd again.
"Please, welcome our most esteemed judges! On the far left is the weapon forger we've all come to know and love, he's Xera Stark!" Skyla announced, gesturing to the table now as a line of four individuals made their way out from somewhere behind the scenes.
"Next to him sits my very own brother, a slayer of beasts, monsters, devils, gods, and women alike, he's Dante!" Ciel added, causing Dante to pause a moment in his stride as he fixed her with a glare.
She ignored him.
"Next is the heiress herself who's tasted hundreds of dishes in her spare time and the possessor of the Silver Tongue when it comes to taste, she's Weiss Schnee!" Skyla continued, leading fluidly into Ciel's voice.
"And finally, we have a boy who grew up with seven sisters and an overly fond mother, he started cooking at an impressively young age and mastered it earlier than most, he's Jaune Arc!" Ciel gave the final announcement as Jaune stepped out from the final lineup, all judges taking their seats a moment later.
The central seat remained empty.
"Now, as administrator of this esteemed academy..." Skyla spoke out across the dark stands of the spectators.
"We have a very special judge here this morning..." Ciel continued flawlessly.
"He drinks his coffee black and has a knack for being intrigued about absolutely everything…" Skyla continued.
Ciel picked up where she left off, "He's the headmaster of Beacon Academy!"
"Ozpin!" The two announced simultaneously as the clicking of a cane tapped into the tense stillness of the mostly empty room, the headmaster himself making his way to the central seat as he took a moment to look around at all involved parties.
"No shokugeki will be allowed to be hosted by my school," He spoke stoically, resting his cane on the edge of the table as he took his seat, "without me being the judge of it myself." He then gestured toward the two young announcers, "Carry on."
The two girls nodded and turned to Ashton, each getting a supportive double fist bump from him as he nodded to the two competitors, prompting their announcement next.
"As two of you may know, not counting the stalker in the white cloak up in the corner, our contestant in white here is of foxy descent in both heritage and looks. She dukes it out with the forces of evil by day and tends to my brother's hungry stomach by night." Ciel's roundup was proud and teasing as she announced her competitor, gesturing toward the one in question, "She specializes in the art of the heavens and has mastered the skill of using her control over white fox fire to assist in her cooking. She's Inuba Kitsukami!"
"And in the other corner is the tactical genius behind fluffy clouds and the sweet, delectable honey of syrupy goodness. He's leveled his cooking skills since the day he could hold a ladle and hasn't stopped since, cooking for not only his own team but several others in his endeavors here in the kitchens of Beacon Academy." Skyla's own roundup was just as proud as she fixed the crowd with a large smile, gesturing toward the second competitor, "They may both wear ponytails, but I can assure you, this one's hair is more cool than delicate. He's Lie Ren!"
Aside from the light snickers in the crowd and quiet giggles and murmurs, applause erupted from the small student body that was present as the two competitors fixed one another with challenging gazes.
"I believe a good luck is in order." Ren commented, tightening his ponytail before resting his hands on his hips, pink apron shining cleanly at his front.
"You have my thanks, and I return the wishes for you as well. I hope to see us both winners." Inuba responded, giving Ren a polite smile.
"In this kind of situation, it's impossible to tell. I don't even know why we have judges… This is for Kitsuki." Ren replied, letting a small sigh escape his lips.
"Ciel does get a little excited about these kinds of things. She may have gone all out without meaning to." the kitsune replied with an equally exasperated breath.
"I see..." Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at his announcers, "With the incorporation of Skyla, this outcome is actually expected."
"I have taken notice of their similarities early on..." Inuba noted, "It's quite uncanny."
"You have no idea." Ren's reply came with a mild shiver, but he got over it as he turned to his station.
The two had identical setups, mirroring each other in both ingredients and cutlery, down to the chef's knives used and the pans in the silver cabinets.
They had everything they needed.
"To truly see a test of skill between these two-!" Ciel started another announcement.
"We'll be setting a theme for this face-off!" Skyla finished.
"As unanimously decided by the judges after weeks of debate, a final decision was made just a few minutes ago!" Ciel rebounded once again, allowing Skyla to pick up.
"We know you've been awaiting this day anxiously ever since it was announced a month ago, but fear not, the hype is here and it's higher than ever!" the purple-bandit proclaimed.
The decision was actually decided in a few minutes and the shokugeki was only announced to those in this inner circle thirty minutes before it was actually scheduled to start.
"The goal is simple! See that kitsune sitting in the totally throne-like chair behind our headmaster?" Skyla pointed dramatically toward the kitsune in question, causing her to drowsily perk up her ears at her name being called and curl up into a ball in her large, oversized seat.
"Each dish needs to be tasty, but not knock you out tasty! It has to be simple but still possess a mild flash factor! These are the qualities all the judges will be looking for!" Ciel continued, now also dramatically pointing beside her announcing partner.
"The theme with be this!" Skyla whirled around and snagged something small and white from a carton at one of the stations.
"Each contestant must use eggs as their main ingredient for their dish! It's simple enough to be done in a bland way, but complex enough to be incorporated as the main ingredient into countless tasty masterpieces!" Ciel's dramatically pointing finger now leveled itself on the egg Skyla held high above her head.
"The egg is the most versatile ingredient of the culinary world! The possibilities are endless here!" Skyla added before tossing the egg to Ciel, who caught it in a deft, gentle grasp and dropped it back into its original carton.
"You two have thirty minutes!" Ciel announced on her way back to Skyla's side.
"Prepare yourselves!" Skyla tacked on as the two aligned themselves beside each other once more.
In a dramatic pause, the two looked up simultaneously to the holographic screens above to see timers appear on each one, each shining over a blaze of white and pink digital fire as the clocks displayed thirty minutes across the board.
"Begin!"
Ren and Inuba immediately began collecting their ingredients, having already thought of recipes they thought would do well in such a particular situation. Each of them only took five minutes to gather everything needed and began working toward their individual goals.
Both contestants pre-heated their ovens and set aside their eggs.
"They appear to be taking the baking route!" Ciel noted, glancing up to Skyla who now stood atop her shoulders to get a higher view of everything going on.
"Oh~ A pastry of sorts, Inuba's already rolling it out in a pan. I wonder where she's going with this…" Skyla pointed out, watching the kitsune work.
"Perhaps something sweet and fluffy? Just like Kitsuki?" Ciel offered.
"Maybe, but looking over there… Ren's dicing up some zucchini... He seems to be taking quite the opposite route!" Skyla noted before hopping down and letting Ciel leap up onto her shoulders this time.
"You're right! They have totally different strategies!" the young girl placed her hand to shade her eyes as she looked out across the stations before her, "I wonder what must be going through their heads!"
"I know! To cook a dish of these mediocre standards, it must be pretty hard dialing down all their recipes for something so simple!" Skyla responded from below in the same amount of excitement.
Over at the judges stand, Dante, Xera, and the other judges watched with keen interests from on high, carefully examining all that went on despite he idle chatter on the side.
"Well… My faith is totally in Inuba on this one." said Dante.
"Calling it before it ends? I didn't take you for the kind of person to make a quick decision like that."
"Yeah, well, my faith in her ability is...astronomical? If that's the right term?"
"I think it is…"
"Yeah, we'll go with that then."
"I hope you won't be unfair with Ren. I mean, you are more biased towards Inuba."
"True as that may be, I will judge Ren fairly and equally. I'm just saying Inuba will win."
Five minutes soon passed and the dishes were in the ovens, Ren's having been placed a little earlier due to his prep-work being rather easy. Two drastically different looking dishes disappeared into each individual oven as the two competitors sat back and waited.
More minutes passed, and Inuba's oven began to glow white. Her eyes emitted a soft, ruby glow from within her crimson irises as she circulated her fire across her dish, bypassing several time constraints in a delicate maneuver of her flame mastery.
"Looks like Inuba's is out first!" Ciel called out, standing on even ground with Skyla once again as they watched the kitsune pull her dish from the oven and rest it on the stovetop.
A saucepan had been cooking something earlier, and Inuba just now reached for it as she whisked some eggs together in a large bowl. She added sugar into the mix early on, but she slowly began to stir in the sauce from the boiling pan as she whisked.
A mixture of cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds were stirred in as she slowly combined the two liquids.
"It's a custard!" Skyla proclaimed.
"No wonder why she needed that pastry base!" Ciel added, the two now watching as Inuba poured her custard atop the pastry foundation she had pulled from the oven and let that set for a moment, then placed the whole thing back into the confines of the heat once more.
What would've taken another hour of baking was reduced greatly as Inuba began circulating her white flame again.
"Look there!" Ciel suddenly exclaimed, catching Skyla's attention, along with everyone else's, "Ren's pulling his dish out of the oven!"
"What is it?!" Skyla squealed in curiosity, scampering up Ciel's back again as she took her high perch atop the already short girl's shoulders.
"Can you see?" the young announcer eagerly asked.
"It's a quiche!"
Ren set aside his quiche to set and cool slightly as he began mixing together a specialized sauce, something to drizzle over it on the serving platter in order to give it that additional taste.
His quiche's crust was golden brown and he managed to avoid over browning in the time constraints he had, managing to bake the perfect looking quiche in the allotted time as he finished up his mixture of a softly sweet, tomato based sauce.
Something akin to ketchup, but with a much more soothing taste and a tasteful freshness.
In the next four minutes, the contestants were done.
"Alright everyone, moment of truth." said Dante.
Six servings of each dish were carted up to the judging table, Ren and Inuba standing back as soon as each dish was placed before each judge. Ideally, it was best to serve one and then the other, rather than both at the same time. For now, it was best to do the judging simultaneously in order to make the most accurate comparison possible.
Two dishes sat before each judge, while the remaining sixth serving of each variation still rested beneath silver domes on the serving carts the two had wheeled over. Each dish's plating was equally elegant. Both triangularly cut and delectably served in such a clean, refined way. Drizzles of differently colored sauces slipped thinly over each respective dish, spaced intricately and beautifully to please both the eyes and the taste buds.
"Miss Kitsukami, we'll start with your dish. Please, tell us what you have prepared," Ozpin spoke, interlacing his fingers in front of his lips as he turned his attention to the kitsune.
"I have prepared for you a baked custard tart with a nutmeg pastry, the sauce is a similar blend to slightly enhance the flavor but also sooth any overbearing tastes overall. It's a sweet, soft dish, and the nutmeg will help soothe the stomach with every bite." Inuba replied.
She stood with her hands behind her back, fingers nested together as she let her tail slowly sway back and forth.
"Sounds quite delectable. And you, Mister Ren?" Ozpin asked, turning his attention to the other chef amongst them.
"I've prepared a zucchini quiche for you today. It's drizzled with a delicate, gentle tomato sauce and the content of the quiche itself is light, fluffy, and simple. The ingredients were kept to only a few for this dish in favor of avoiding an overwhelming outcome." Ren responded, standing with his hands straight at his sides.
"Very good." Ozpin nodded, then turned his attention to the dishes before him.
"Inuba, you used nutmeg as a spice for your dish, is that correct?" Weiss asked, drawing the kitsune's attention as the heiress gently picked a silver fork from the table before her and cut herself a small piece of Inuba's custard tart.
"That is correct. It is one of the spices known for aiding in stomach pains, so it may assist in the soothing of the taste in all regards." Inuba commented, watching as each judge replicated Weiss's process and sized up their own bite-sized pieces on their forks.
"Most would say that, but nutmeg also has quite the unique flavor. It may sooth the stomach, but it has that small moment of kick that can set the stomach off quicker than anticipated." Weiss replied skeptically, raising her bite to her small nose to take in its aroma.
"Only when used in unnecessary quantities, Weiss." Jaune commented from beside the heiress, lifting his bite-sized piece to his own nose as he took in its delicate, sweet smell, "When used in controlled quantities, that issue is pretty much taken care of."
"That depends on the palette of the recipient." Xera spoke up from the other end of the judging table.
He had his fork and bite-sized piece balanced in equilibrium on the tip of his finger as he slowly spun the utensil in circles.
"If the one eating the food is sensitive to spices, it takes away most factors and just presents them with what's there. A spice. That's usually enough to turn people away."
"True..." Dante commented this time as he had a slightly larger piece settled onto the end of his own utensil, "However, if one is incredibly experienced in measuring their usage of ingredients with such high precision, it can render most faults completely meaningless."
"Even so, the faults still remain." Xera countered, "They may be covered up through careful calculations and special incorporations of other combined ingredients, but the sensitivity of taste still underlies the entire dish. But, like I said, it really depends on who's eating it."
His eyes glanced toward a soft swishing noise, noticing something long and white whipping about from behind Inuba's apron as he continued to spin his fork. Xera could only shake his head slightly, wondering when the girl would ever learn to hide her excitement, especially with a blush as obvious as that due to Dante's rather subtle complement alone.
"All points have been made, I suggest you let your taste buds do the rest of the talking." Ozpin spoke as he glanced between the four judges at his sides, before taking up his fork and slowly taking his first bite.
The four others did the same soon after.
Silence fell over the room, completely basking it in a level of tension far too unbefitting of a culinary face-off, yet it seemed imperative it was there for such an important endeavor.
That silence was abruptly shattered by the sound of tearing cloth and a loud, satisfied, reverberating manly groan coming from the center of the judging table.
Dante and Xera, seemingly the only two of the group that were sane, looked to Ozpin with both confusion and horror, watching as Ozpin's jacket and undershirt shredded themselves through a physical flex of his blinding muscles, completely tearing his attire into obliteration as a wide, toothy grin plastered itself across his face. A long breath of relief cascaded from his mouth as he closed his eyes and relished in the taste of Inuba's dish.
All eyes suddenly turned to Weiss, who had suddenly scarfed down the rest of the dish before her in a loud display of blissful gasps while Jaune took his elegant time taking his down piece by piece. His eyes were closed the whole time, however, and his cheeks were only slightly flushed.
After recovering, Dante finally had the chance to take a bit, and as he himself had guessed, he was more than delighted with what he tasted.
"It's… It's so fluffy… And sweet! And soothing, and… and… just absolutely delicious!" Dante declared, his piece long since eaten as he slammed his fork's handle into the table in front of him, "Another!"
"The last piece is for Kitsuki..." Xera pointed out, halfway through his own dish as he glanced at Dante, who suddenly looked like a child who had his candy stolen by a man with orange hair and a bowler cap, "Would you like the rest of mine?"
"You're offering?" Dante asked, confusion riddling his face.
Xera only nodded his head, a small thought formulating in his mind about the dish at hand.
"Don't get me wrong, it's incredible in all regards. Given what I know about where she learned how to cook, this level is pretty expected and delectable."
"But…?" Dante prompted, seeing where Xera was going with this.
"It doesn't solve the problem at hand. She's crafted a dish worthy of anyone's taste buds, but I'm starting to think that was never the issue here." Xera pointed out, sliding his dish into Dante's possession.
It didn't last more than half a second.
"Mr. Stark, I request you to make your point upon the conclusion of the judging. We would all very much like to hear what you have in mind." Ozpin spoke up, suddenly fully clothed again and looking as stoic as ever.
It was as if he never went bare-chested in the first place…
"For now," The headmaster glanced forward to a severely blushing Inuba, lost in her own mind and with a rapidly whipping tail she couldn't contain anymore, "Thank you for the lovely dish, Miss Kitsukami. Now, it's time to delve into Ren's dish."
All five judges moved onto Ren's own dish as the three announcers trained their attention on the next set of reactions, empty secondary plates now pushed aside.
"Ren, what made you decide to go with a quiche?" Xera asked, taking up a bite-sized portion of the food before him with just enough on it to allow the fork to balance independently on the top of his glass of water.
"Quiches are known to be light and simple, most being made for breakfasts or early meals. My quiche focuses on the light factor, incorporating whipped eggs to keep the substance at a fluffy texture while also incorporating zucchini for a touch of flavor."
Ren's logic was sound, and in most regards, it'd work perfectly for the situation at hand. Xera couldn't help but return to that underlying thought he had earlier. Ren's didn't fit either.
"Zucchini was a bold choice, Ren." Jaune pointed out, picking up his own bite now as he glanced toward his teammate, "It's crunchy, has a very distinct flavor, and happens to clash with most other flavors rather easily."
"To counter Jaune's point," Weiss spoke up, giving Ren a polite smile, "I admire the attempt at a healthy food here. You've used no ingredients to settle poorly in the stomach, and all of it seems rather simplistic in a way to suggest a careful delicacy."
"Even so, not everyone is a big fan of their veggies." Dante pointed out.
"The rest of the quiche is clever at hiding the distinct taste of the zucchini in most cases..." Xera countered.
"I believe a taste of the dish is in order, is it now?" Ozpin asked, getting four nods in return as they took their bites once again.
Silence descended once more, smothering the room in yet another quiet blanket of anticipation as all eyes were on Ozpin, every single one of them, watching as he chewed carefully, quietly, methodically, reigning in the flavors in the slowest way possible to savor every second of it.
And then it happened once again, this time on a bigger scale than the last.
Ozpin's immense muscles suddenly bulged, ripping his jacket and shirt to shreds as he released another loud, manly groan of pure bliss into the air of the room. Another smile of pure satisfaction plastered itself across his face as he closed his eyes once again to take in the feeling of complete and utter fulfillment.
Jaune immediately scarfed down his dish, sighing in bliss when he was done while Weiss delicately ate through hers in smaller bites, a mild blush settling over her cheeks as she finished the rest of her slice of quiche in due time.
"Where'd your piece go?" Xera asked, eyeing Dante's third empty plate before him as he was still working through his own second half.
"I… I don't know… It was here a second ago..!" Dante exclaimed, checking beneath the table, under his plate, under the other two plates, under his glass, all coming up with nothing.
"Did you even taste it?" Xera asked.
"I did… Bit the entire thing was gone afterwards..." Dante mumbled, wracking his brain for some kind of memory, but ultimately failing to grasp at one.
He was confused beyond measure.
"Here, maybe this time it won't magically disappear."
Xera slid his second half to Dante and the white-haired teen glanced down at the slice in skepticism. Very carefully, the immortal drew up his fork once more and took up a bite of the new quiche before him, drawing it close before slowly transitioning it into his mouth. He closed his eyes, quietly trying to savor the taste. Then...something took over.
By the time he opened his eyes again, the quiche was gone, his fork empty, nothing remained.
"What is this sorcery?!" Dante exclaimed, looking around again at any culprits who obviously stole his quiche again, then fixed his gaze onto Ren.
"That, sir, is called healthy cooking combined with tasteful ingredients." Ren informed.
Inuba was busy getting over a fit of giggles at Dante's antics, not bothered by the level of culinary mastery Ren possessed as everything came full circle now.
Ozpin slid an empty plate forward, clothes fully intact once again as he clasped his fingers together and rested them on the table before him.
"Well, seeing as everyone else had such clear reactions to these dishes…"
He talked as if he didn't have the greatest reaction of them all.
"I believe it is safe to say these dishes were rather…delicious... However, we mustn't forget the purpose of our decision on the matter and what criteria must be met in order to ensure the highest potential for success. Judges?"
Ozpin's critical eyes slipped back and forth as he turned to meet the gazes of each individual judge.
"Which was better? The tart or the quiche?" He inquired, leveling eyes with each person for a few moments before taking out his scroll, "Please forward me your decision and I'll tally up the final verdict with the incorporation of my own judgment."
"Here we go ladies and gentlemen…" Ciel muttered in a quiet, anticipating whisper.
"The votes are tallying. The tension's rising, building as we await the decision…" Skyla did the same.
The four sent in their verdicts as one, then two, then all of their scrolls were put away, each providing Ozpin with their decisions. Only, he had to stop for a moment and regard one of the four judges at his side.
"Mr. Stark, abstaining from making a decision may be legal for a judge to do, but you only run the risk of forcing a tie here." Ozpin said, staring curiously at the phoenix at the end of the table.
"What? I can't tell you whose was better." Xera replied with a shrug, if only his words were honest.
Ozpin slowly nodded his head before turning to his tally.
"Very well. Xera Stark has abstained from making a decision, leaving four definitive votes overall for this verdict."
His scroll soon closed as he turned his gaze back to the two before him, fixing each one evenly as they stood and awaited the final decision. Their breaths locked in their throats, constricting them as their nerves flared in varying degrees of anxiousness.
"By a vote of 4 to 0," Ozpin continued to switch his gaze between the two, quietly exchanging his glance with each competitor to further push the veil of tension blanketing the room once again, "the victor of this culinary face-off is Inuba Kitsukami."
Sounds of celebration shook the room as the announcers went crazy, yelling strange oddities that others would scream in a video game.
Inuba slowly released the breath she was holding and turned to regard her competition, only to see him on his knees and staring at his hands, a cloud of doom looming over his black ponytail. A similar cloud of doom suddenly loomed over a certain hammer wielder in the stands as well.
Deciding to give him his moment, she made her way over to the sixth dish atop her cart behind her and withdrew the dome covering it.
"Would you like me to serve my dish to Kitsuki? I believe the criteria are met for her to pleasantly enjoy this one."
Ozpin's eyes transitioned to Xera at the end of the table, whose eyes focused on something on the stage as he held his arms tightly across his body, head slightly tilted down in thought.
"I believe Mister Stark had something to say when the judging concluded?" Ozpin prompted, intrigued to see what the phoenix was onto with his comment earlier.
"It won't work..." Xera muttered, "Your dish won't work."
"If you don't mind me asking, why is it not satisfactory?" Inuba asked, gaze falling into a thoughtful confusion.
Xera's words snapped Ren out of his stupor as well, and his pink eyes suddenly snapped up to the teen judge before him in a similar confusion.
"You met the criteria of taste, but there's something else you're all forgetting."
Xera pushed his chair back and stood, glancing back to Kitsuki in her throne and watching her suddenly lock up under the gaze of everyone in the room. He gradually made his way over and offered the kitsune his hand.
"Pride isn't so easily set aside, even in competitions for another's benefit." He pointed out, letting Kitsuki take a moment to hesitate before taking his hand and letting him pull her from her throne, "You're all going about this in an attempt to prepare her something wondrous, yet simplistic. And you've done so in two excellent ways."
He led her over to the judge's table, then past it and down the walkway, pulling Kitsuki all the way to the stations themselves as the rest of the room just stared in silence. Even the announcers went quiet.
Xera let Kitsuki's hand go as he gathered a couple eggs and fired up the stove, letting the Dust in the hot plate begin to burn and heat its surface. He quickly slid a pan into place and got out a heat-resistant spoon to stir with.
"Kitsuki, pay attention to everything that goes in here, it'll be pretty easy. I'm only using one ingredient." Xera commented with a cheeky smile. With oil soon added, Xera cracked three eggs into the quickly heating pan and began to stir them.
He let Kitsuki's golden-orange eyes regard him a few times, and as the minutes past, they soon became more and more transfixed on the eggs in the dish as they went from their previous runny, gooey mess to a folding, golden cloud of scrambled eggs.
With a quick grab for a serving platter, Xera pulled over a plate and slipped the scrambled eggs from the hot pan onto the center of the platter. Then with a quick glance, he found a drawer nearby and withdrew a fork from a collection of clean utensils within it.
"You can add some of Ren's leftover tomato sauce if you'd like, he mainly used tomatoes but he also added a small amount of vinegar, some sugar, and specifically the juice extracted from the tomatoes themselves after cooking them down to a saucy consistency." Xera listed off, drawing up a spoon from the drawer as well to collect some sauce in it.
He handed that to Kitsuki, and after a moment, she added a small amount across the top of her scrambled eggs and turned to Xera.
The phoenix gave her a reassuring nod, and with a tense silence, she slowly took up a small spoonful of Xera's quick dish and took a bite.
Her mind was skeptical about it, but somehow, someway…she found herself trusting the dish moreso than the ones she tried before. It felt safer, almost, if that was the right term for her to use.
She hadn't even realized she was two bites in until she was at three, and the pangs of hunger she's been experiencing were quickly evaporating with each tiny portion of egg she ate.
"Part of the reason why you were taking those dishes with such an exhaustive result is because you didn't know what was in them." Xera kicked up onto the counter and took a seat there, dangling his legs over the edge as he let Kitsuki eat and listen, "You're mind has had a hard time trusting anything since you woke up. And due to its current lack of memories, it wasn't sure what to expect when you ate those dishes. The taste was a high impact enough, but the unknown factors only built onto that. It was enough to knock you out on more than one occasion."
Kitsuki passed the halfway point of Xera's scrambled eggs before she slowly nodded her head, getting a gist of his thought processes and making sense of them in her own mind.
It explained the feeling she had. That safe feeling when she dug into these scrambled eggs. She didn't know what to expect with the other dishes since she wasn't there to see them being made, but with this…
She watched what went into the food she'd be eating. The difference that made was incredible.
"So, I'll be the first to say it," Ren sighed, pushing himself from his knees and onto his feet as he brushed off his pants, "We had it wrong from the start?"
"I wouldn't say wrong..." Ozpin pointed out, a small smile forming behind his clasped fingers as he watched the exchange continue on center stage, "Half-right, would be the better term."
"It makes perfect sense, though, now that we know." Dante spoke up now too, glancing apologetically toward Inuba and Ren, "You two tried your hardest, but even so, there was still something we didn't think of that could've played a large factor in the end. Even I didn't think of it..."
"It's alright." Ren waved off, "It was good practice. And in the end, we solved the crisis involving Kitsuki's sustenance intake problem, or lack thereof."
"He is correct." Inuba agreed, making her way over to the judge's table once again, "We have solved what we set out to do. I believe that is reward enough."
"Are you just saying that because you won?" Jaune asked.
"Actually..." Ren cut in, "I believe this course of action renders the recent verdict unclear now that all the factors have been revealed. Only half of them have been judged."
"Correct." Inuba added, "The outcome of this face-off is moot. We no longer have a clear victor."
She then stood before the judges, dish in hand, and glanced at each one. Ren soon joined her side, dish in hand as well, sharing glances with each judge from Inuba's side.
"I believe we deserve a recount." Ren stated what everyone was thinking.
"We deserve to know whose was truly better in terms of taste now, rather than what was best for the set of criteria you had kept in mind before." Inuba tacked on.
Ozpin's smirk remained as he glanced between the remaining judges one last time, careful not to reveal his smile as he considered their request.
"Very well-"
"Sorry to interrupt." A voice suddenly called down from the stands, and all eyes turned up to the girl in the white cloak.
She stood atop the wall overlooking the stage below, balancing on what served as the spectator's railing as she waited for all attention to focus on her next words.
"As much as even I would enjoy having this continue, Zeridûl's rift has finally stabilized. The Dark Omens have finally revealed storm patterns that have created an opening." Her words lingered in the suddenly still air as she made one final comment, "I believe it's time we stop him for good."
(Weapons Illustrated 5)
"Heya folks, we're back for another week of Weapons Illustrated Guide! As I'm sure you've already guessed, today we'll be discussing about Weiss Schnee, Ruby's partner, weapon called Myrtenaster. Ruby, since Weiss is your partner, why don't you start us off?"
"Aye captain!"
Again with this captain thing?
"So, let's start with the basic stuff! Myrtenaster is a standard-sized rapier and primarily that has a hilt that possesses four prongs, which encase the revolver-like chamber around the ricasso instead of a bow type hand-guard that is common among the majority of rapiers. This mechanism she has can be controlled by the sword-hand, enabling her to seamlessly cycle the Dust chamber in combat. She can activate the usage of her Dust by a trigger on the underside of one of the prongs. For reloading purposes, the mechanism can be opened on a hinge like one of those old western movie revolvers, allowing Weiss to replace empty vials."
"Considering she's the most versatile Dust user we've seen so far, along with her using the most Dust types, we'll go over some of the Dust she's used in conjunction with Myrtenaster. So far, we've seen her use yellow, blue, red, cyan, purple, and white Dust. Red Dust, obviously fire. She can make flaming projectiles along with a large flame trail that moves towards her target and explode. Next is Blue Dust, or ice, which is one of her most used Dust types so far. She can create a wall of ice crystals on the ground, form sheets of ice, and with her Glyphs, Weiss can actually manipulate what shape the ice will take. Ice bullets that erupt into ice crystals upon impact, and ice dome shield, a giant sword, the list goes on to what she can do."
"You think she can manipulate other elements to make some really cool stuff?! Like, like a dragon made from fire?!"
"Hey, maybe, we've yet to see. What about lightning Ruby?"
"Oh yeah! Okay, so some of you may not have known this, but remember those Haste Glyphs she used a while back on Blake when we took on that Paladin Torchwick stole? That was actually her using lightning Dust with her Glyphs to boost up Blake like she did! She can also make barriers, and oh! Make cyclones with Grey Dust, which is for wind!"
"So as you've seen, Weiss' weapon allows her for some serious versatility to allow her to change up her style in combat, quickly changing from offense to defense just by the snap of her fingers. Even though her weapon has no alternate forms, none that we know of yet at least, her weapon sort of allows her to adjust her Semblance and give it different aspects for usage, playing into that whole quick-swap between offense and defense."
"Lastly, for a rapier, that things pretty durable, huh?"
"Very. Not only does it dish out sweet damage to Grimm, but it also works well enough against armored opponents, like the Giant Knight Armor or the...ahem...rusty Paladins."
Ruby gave Dante a smack to his right arm, only hurting slightly due to it still being damaged.
"What? I said it once and I'll say it again. Those things are just over-sized junk heaps. Deathmachines, but junk heaps nonetheless."
"Anyway, that's all that we have for you today for Weapons Illustrated! We'll be seeing all of you lovely people next week! Bye!"
"Whew... Now that that's over with, we should head on over."
"For..?"
"The after season party! A successful season deserves a huge party to go with, right?"
"Oh yeah! Totally forgot! Sorry..."
"Ah, don't sweat it." Dante said wrapping his left arm around Ruby, whilst the two walked off the stage.
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to eat a lot of pizza. And bacon cheeseburgers if they have any."
"But...you don't eat..."
"I do. Just not always because it's not necessary. Either way, I've got a craving for food."
"Heh... Well, don't let Nora hear you say that. She'll try to challenge you to a food eating competition again."
"Oh wow... I just remembered that..."
"How did you forget?! You guys ate like five hundred pancakes each!"
"Just another Saturday morning at the office..."
"Sure..." said Ruby with a smile as she rolled her eyes.
Now that the rift has stabilized, the time for comfort has ended. The time for battle has arrived. Our group of Heroes will make their way to Zeridul...but will they succeed in ending his Dark terror that has been looming over Xera Stark's Remnant? Or will they fall within his dimension of Darkness? Find out as we progress further within this exciting arc.
With that...
Don't forget to check out my other new story Knights of White and Black, which is being written in conjunction with Xera Stark's story Rogue Huntsmen. It's totally awesome and definitely a new and fresh way of writing for me. So yeah, please go check it out!
I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.
Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.
Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.
Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!