Chapter 72: Night in Ōdōri Park
"So... this is how you all managed it!" Mister Endo growled as he stood watching the rebels convalescing around Erina Nakiri. The sight of these chefs who were so far beneath the level of sophistication and elegance that Director Azami believed his daughter; the god tongue would follow, infuriated him.
Moreover, the sight before him only further compounded his belief in the idea that Central was justified in its crusade in permanently disbarring the riffraff from entering the high culinary arts of Japanese fine dining.
"If you hadn't have acted out of turn, Miss Erina, then these pissant chefs would right now have all been rightfully and successfully purged from Central. There not worthy of receiving your sublime knowledge and godlike instructions..." He stopped himself mid tirade after receiving a withering glare from the god Tongue herself.
"You are mistaken, sir..." Erina retorted plainly, clenching her fists at he side as she forced herself to speak politely, yet firmly disprove his argument. "All I did was teach my friends about the properties of potatoes..." she gestured towards the group of first years behind her. "But it was they who taught themselves about Snowfall Udon and how to make use of them. To that as well, you should take note of these chefs whom stand before you. As they are people whom will not cower to the likes of you and Central".
Dropping to hand and knees, this time, the acting examiner admitted defeat in trying to have the rebels removed from Tōtsuki, although Erina and Sōma both glowered at him before being dragged away by their respective other halves.
"You really are incredible Erina, like a modern day Joan D'Arc..." Yuki grinned, hugging the god tongue tightly. "Just without the horrific death" Hisako interjected, entwining her hand with Erina's. "You really are a leader worth following".
"Ahaha! Yeah, we made it through the second test!" Shōji and Daigo yelled triumphantly, and seconds skater their joyful celebration was promptly joined by Ryōko and Zenji both of whom began cheering loudly. "Let's go explore Sapporo..." Isami suggested sensing the mood of the room was still tense. "The city is a top tourist destination after all. And who knows how long we'll be here until we're whisked away to try next test location".
With the suggested idea uniformly seized upon and with grins upon their faces; Erina included, they all agreed to meet again in the hotel foyer after they had showed and dressed in their normal clothes before getting taxis down to the city. However, as the group of first year rebels departed the kitchens none of them, bar Shun, who noticed a black suited man glaring at them behind dark tinted sunglasses whispering into a mobile phone.
"It's been confirmed Sir..." the man described to the person on the line, "all the rebels have made it through the second exam".
There was a rather tense silence as the man bit his lip as he listened to the formal excoriation that he received back. Yet after about five minutes he looked remarkably relaxed as he received the response and order.
"Very well then. Move them onwards to the next location... they shall be expelled one way or another. Tōtsuki doesn't need their ilk anymore. In the morning, once the chefs have returned to the trains, split up the rebels and send them to the next test locations".
Nodding his head, even though the action was irrelevant for agreeing to over the phone orders, the man affirmed that he knew what to do. "Of course I will go and dispatch them".
Two hours later, after the worst of the blizzard had ended, the group of friends all met up again in the hotel foyer with their packed suitcases, as they didn't want to leave it to chance that Central wouldn't send them onwards after them, and then clambered into three waiting taxis they had called to take them down the mountain to do some nighttime exploration of Sapporo city.
As it turned out, the three couples of the group, by design of the others led by Alice and Ryōko, were all bundled into one taxi and were were told that that it was for the betterment of their relationships. "Learn from each other", was the way Alice had smirked as they had shut the taxi doors on the four inside.
"Alice! When I get my hands on you I'll..."
Whatever Erina had been about to to yell was immediately cut off the doing of the taxi's engine revving up and then driving out of the hotel car park. "Come on Erina..." Sōma grinned, "relax. Alice means well, she really does care about you". The redheaded boy chuckled, even as the god tongue glared peevishly at him. "I don't need you telling me what I already know", she replied blushing before burying her red face in Hisako's arms.
"Hey guys..." Megumi and Ikumi spoke, "it looks like the others are now following us in their separate taxis. Alice, Ryo and Daigo are all leaning out of the windows taking photos of the scenery". Before Erina could become further irritated by her cousins recklessness, Hisako brought up her desire to go visit a shop in front of Sapporo station, famous for processed seafood and dried produce.
"I want to expand my research and knowledge for medicinal cookery". Breaking into a smile, Erina leant her head on her girlfriends shoulder and hummed in agreement. "Of course... it's a date. I've never actually had the opportunity to see Sapporo, even though I've been here countless times on Tōtsuki business".
Looking up from their separate conversations Sōma, Megumi, Takumi and Ikumi all smiled as they all stated their own plans for traversing the restaurants and food shops; looking for future culinary inspiration. "Maybe something here will inspire me to help us defeat Central" Sōma exclaimed, just as Takumi levelled a finger at him.
"I refuse to allow you to be culinary inspired by anything here before me!" Takumi refuted petulantly. "We are rivals..." the blonde Italian boy was suddenly cut off by Ikumi grabbing each side of his face and pressing her lips to his. After that the ride down to Sapporo was relatively quiet, aside from the chit-chat Megumi and Hisako involved themselves in with Ikumi.
"Taking a leaf out of Sōma's book are you? Spontaneity is good, relationship-wise" Hisako mooted. "Actually..." Ikumi replied. "I was inspired by Erina calling her time with you, a date. And so I just decided to confess my feelings through my actions".
Blushing bright red and slinking further down in his seat, Takumi peered at Ikumi through his fingers, as his hands were over his face. "Well..." Sōma announced, "at least you're not oblivious anymore". Dropping his hands from his face Takumi looked straight at his best friend and responded, "you're the last person I want to hear that from!"
When the taxis dropped the first years off, Alice and Ryo immediately bolted off in the direction of a high end restaurant, saying that they were looking to get even with the chef-owner who they knew and often had friendly cook-offs against. Even though everyone later asked Erina to see if that claim was right, which it was, they all knew that Alice and Ryo were going off on a date night of their own.
"As we don't have to leave until late into the night, we can explore the city" Ikumi stated grabbing ahold of Takumi's arm and dragging him towards the direction of a night fair in the centre of Odori Park, more specifically a tall helter-skelter. "Hey!" Yuki suddenly exclaimed, making the remaining few jump, startled by the orange haired girl's cheerfulness. "Let's go look for something good to eat!" As if they had been reading her mind; Shōji, Daigo and Shun all announced what they wanted.
'Ramen, Sushi, Barbecue'.
Before Erina and Hisako departed, to go search for the shop selling dried food and medicinal herbs, the god tongue stepped forwards and addressed her friends. "Whilst you are exploring, I want you to think of this as part of your Hokkaido study sessions".
"Yes! Mistress Erina! We shall soak up all the knowledge and expertise we can from all that we eat!"
Affectionately shaking her head as she and Hisako walked away, Erina noticed both Sōma and Megumi looking stunned by the ice creams they were presently engaged in eating. "They seem to he rather taken by those iced creams" Erina giggled entwining her fingers with the girl next to her. 'I hope we can become like them someday' she wished, taking ahold of her girlfriend's hand. "Yeah..." Hisako replied smiling. "They really do seem to complete each other, a bit like us", she cooed kissing Erina on the lips as they walked away towards the shopping district.
"Hey Sōma..." Megumi asked, through a mouthful of ice cream. "I wonder what type of milk they used to make this, the texture of this is smooth but nutty". Smirking, the redhead pressed his ice cream against the girls nose leaving a smidgen of the dessert behind, chuckling as he took in the cute wrinkling of Megumi's nose as she tried to appear miffed by his childishness he then smiled before true laughter broke free from her body.
"Yes, you're exactly right Megs! It's got a delicate flavour; a perfect blend of sweetness and richness. It's refreshing!"
Leaning forwards Megumi made to kiss her boyfriend but just as he was about to reciprocate she stuffed her ice cream into his face as 'payback'. Yet not even ten seconds later both boy and girl were arm in arm, laughing and smiling as they continued enjoying their night stroll through Odori park beneath the starlit and night light-lit sky.
They walked around the park enjoying the nightlights hanging from trees and the many food stalls that attracted their attention. Entrancing aromas or by curious ingredients - the teenage couple soaked up the experiences presented by the stalls owners.
And so after forty-five minutes after stuffing themselves from nearly every stall, Sōma and Megumi found a place to sit and relax beneath the branches of a massive weeping willow. Dressed in jeans T-shirt, hoodie and scarf, Sōma could feel the chill air biting at him yet sitting here with his soulmate was enough to make him totally forget the cold. Smiling, he couldn't help but remember that night back at the dorm, after his loss in the Autumn Election, when Megumi had invited him back to her hometown.
Never would he regret making the decision to accept her invitation, for that was the moment that he had started to realise why she meant so much to him. "I love you Megs", he whispered into her ear as she nuzzled her head against his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around the girl seated on the ground next to him, Sōma felt utterly content. Feeling suddenly tired the two teenagers closed their eyes and decided to allow themselves a brief moment to drift off to sleep, before regrouping with the others.
Leaning her head against his shoulder, Megumi drew the zip of her Rolling Stones 'tongue and lips' hoodie closed before shutting her eyes, revelling in being so close to the boy she loved. "Love you too Sōma", she replied 'booping' him on the nose. Giggling at the cute pout Sōma was now displaying, the blue haired girl simply shut her eyes and snuggled against him.
"Hey guys!"
Bolting upright both Sōma and Megumi tried their hardest not to look dejected at having their moment alone ruined. Smiling as they welcomed Takumi and Ikumi running towards them neither redhead or bluenette noticed, until the last moment, that Erina and Hisako were bringing up the rear. Looking equally worried. "Do you know what time it is? We should have been back at the station ten minutes ago, we've been running around looking for you!" Takumi yelled exasperated. "And we find you canoodling beneath a tree?"
"Not that it isn't a beautiful spot", the busty blonde added with a grin.
"Hurry up..." Erina motioned for them to follow, "The others all waiting at the Park entrance for us. So let's hurry before we get left behind". As realisation struck them both, Sōma and Megumi jumped to their feet , grabbed their suitcases, and began tearing after the others.
Upon exiting the park the managed to find the taxi that Erina had flagged down for them waiting for them on the opposite side of the road. "It's lucky we brought our suitcases with us", Ryōko sighed. "We wouldn't have had enough time to return to the hotel to get them and then get back to the station". "For those who pass the second test, our luggage would have been taken down and loaded onto the train we ride to the next location" Hisako replied cautiously, "but I didn't want us to risk it".
"We may be classed as rebels but even Central wouldn't dare abandon dropouts and exam failures far from the school" Erina snorted, "my father may be cruel but he's not sadistic". The resulting looks from the others ranged from disbelief of her description of her father, to chuckling at her exceedingly unladylike snort. "Could you take us to Sapporo station?" Hisako asked the driver of the taxi. However, before everyone could get inside the taxi, four Tōtsuki marked SUV's pulled up.
Holding a clipboard, a female aid dressed in tweed walked towards them and began appraising them before reading from her notes.
"Isami Aldini, Yuki Yoshino, Zenji Marui and Ryōko Sakaki you all will get into the second car", the woman spoke pointedly flicking her pen in the direction of the appropriate car. "Alice Nakiri, Ryo Kurokiba, Hisako Arato and Shun Ibusaki... get in the third first car. Shōji Sato, Daigo Ioki and Ikumi Mito... the first car. Now".
Stubbornly refusing to move from where they stood, the first years glared daggers at the woman before them. "Sōma Yukihira, Megumi Tadokoro, Erina Nakiri and Takumi Aldini, you will be in the forth car". As the woman looked up from her clipboard, her eyebrows quirked upwards almost quizzically.
Turning her head the woman rapped her knuckles against the chassis of the first car and immediately out of each of the cars two more suited individuals exited before moving forwards and manhandling the first years into their assigned vehicles. Yet, just as the car door was shut in his face, frowning, Sōma heard the woman whisper to one of her colleagues. "Okay then, take them to the stations".
Sōma's bad feeling was fully realised moments later as he, Erina, Megumi and Takumi all witnessed the other cars being driven away in different directions; presumably to other stations in Sapporo. Moreover, as the car arrived at their assigned station they all saw standing outside waiting for them was the grinning face of Rindō Kobayashi.
As they exited the taxi, the four first years abruptly found themselves being ushered through the station towards the platform and the awaiting train. "Oh come on guys..." Rindō smiled, seeing the glares directed at her. "You don't have to be so angry. Your success if these tests" she enunciated angrily, "has forced Central to be more instrumental in its desires. And so you, your friends and the others will all be facing off against us. So let us truly have fun".
N.B - I wish you all a Very Happy (if that's even possible anymore) New Year!
Also, Happy Christmas!
(Or Merry Christmas if you prefer that semantic difference).
R.I.P
Sally Ann Howes. (Truly Scrumptious, both in name and performance, in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)