First of all, thank you very much for reading this story from beginning till now. Thank you for leaving review, follow, and included this story into your favorite list. It is my first time write a anime/manga fan-fiction, so bear with it. I hope that you didn't get bored with this one as I make this story run like the original manga with several touch made by me. Leave your opinion by review this story.

Happy reading and have a good day.

-rionnaru-


"It seems that we got an unexpected turn of event, Ren." Hayama said calmly, but Karen could detect the amused expression in his tone.

"Nah, it's just turned out to be your misfortune for paired up with me in this assignment, Kira-kun." Karen replied back when she noted that the blonde haired half Italian student already turned around and walked toward their lecturer from that assignment, Inui Hinako who barely sipped her tea.

"Chef Inui! I would like you to... make the final decision for this." Takumi started demanding a request to the female alumni of Toutsuki. "Which of our dishes is a true delicacy. Please, judge it impartially..."

"Eh... why? It's not related to the assignment, so I don't want to." Hinako abruptly cut off Takumi's words, which made the latter didn't know how to react back.

Not only Takumi who got quieted. The rest of remained students in that room got silent too. Takumi, being the one who suggested such an idea got his body trembled because of embarrassment also got his face burnt deep red. Souma who stood not far from the blonde haired student can't helped giving his speech.

"Hey, hey, what are you going to do about this? This is got awkward because you got too excited."

"Fufuhahahaha... so uncool. You are so uncool, nii-chan... fufufuu!" A laughter burst out from the other Aldini as the bigger boy cover his own mouth to hold on to his laugh. Takumi who heard that immediately shot a death glare to his own twin brother.

"S-shut up, Isami! Don't you laugh at me too!"

Both Souma and Megumi whom barely knew that the blonde Aldini and the big male student whom still laughed his heart out are siblings couldn't hid their shocked face. While the other pair hadn't spoken out, as the jet-black haired girl has her chin supported by her hands on the steel desk of the workstation while the dark skinned boy next to her still in his calm demeanor.

"Anyway, Yukihira! I definitely won't lose to you! I'll make a dish that is better than yours!" Takumi got back on his spirit as he declared his resolution to the red head boy. Then he shifted his attention to Karen - Hayama pair. "It's also applied to you too, Nakiri Karen. Did you understand, Yukihira! Nakiri!"

"Hey, let's go already." Still in his laughter, Isami dragged his older brother out of that room to get their ingredient.

"What was that...?" Souma questioned himself as he saw the Aldini brothers already out of his sight.

"Souma-kun, we have to go too!" Megumi who kept herself quiet since the beginning voiced out, reminding her partner to their main issue.

"Ah, you're right Tadokoro."


The room got quiet and left Inui Hinako whom have her snack and tea, also Karen and Hayama whom still stayed at their assigned workstation. Hayama tied his white hair and tidied up his chef uniform, while Karen has her attention on the clear windows at the left side of the room. From there, she could see the students run in hurry, aimed for the same place. The stream. She knew it because of the tools they brought with, the fishing rod and bucket. Even for Souma – Megumi pair. Karen turned around then took the small notebook in her uniform pocket as well as the small pen.

"Should we go with fish too, Kira-kun?" Karen asked as she opened up her notebook. She leaned on the workstation as she's waiting for Hayama's answer.

"If you looked for the simplest and easiest ingredient, it was the best choice. But, in the large area which surrounded this building, I think we would found something better than fish." Hayama gave Karen a short look when he noted that girl already wrote something on her notebook. "Also, if you took that Italian boy's challenge seriously, you should thought about anti-mainstream ingredient, Ren."

"Anti-mainstream ingredient, you say? In this kind of place and short given time, all we can hope is no other than 'ordinary' mountain type ingredient." Karen talked back as she tore the page once she finished wrote on it then handed the piece to Hayama. "It will took a bit long time to get our main ingredient, so I ask you to get and prepare all the things in this note."

Hayama read the note, from the first line till the last. He can't wish for another thing as Karen already detailed all the things which needed to be prepared by him. Even from that note, he didn't need to do the outdoor activity as most of his duty was to prepare the spice mix for their dish, and made something which Hayama presumed as miso soup. Only a single thing which became a big question in Hayama's mind. Their dish's main ingredient. "What kind of dish you want to make, Ren?"

The jet-black haired Nakiri didn't answer immediately as she started rummaging her utensils bag to find the proper knives to be used in her upcoming 'hunt'. "From the spice ingredient written on it, you must have imagined what will our dish ended up to, Kira-kun." Karen got out one knife which she usually used to skin her hunted small mammals. "Something warm, maybe a bit spicy, ordinary but unforgettable."

Hayama sighed as he closed his green lime colored eyes once he heard Karen's ambiguous answer. He shouldn't got surprised by that simple fact, even he has heard countlessly the same type sentence from that girl. Then Hayama read the note once again, to get a better understanding about his task. "Something warm and a bit spicy, we can get it from the chili and ginger. Ordinary, I note it from the simple pak choi, green beans, and miso soup you used in it. Unforgettable, you must referred it to our main ingredient." Hayama said unconsciously when he read the note more in detail. "Let's see, from all the ingredients in this note, we can use chicken, duck, even fish as the main ingredient. But those ingredients are ordinary. Don't tell me..."

"I leave the rest to you, Kira-kun."

Before Hayama can finished his words, Karen already dashed out of that place. Inside his head, Hayama questioned himself about how the jet-black haired Nakiri intended to get 'meat' as their dish's main ingredient in the short two hours given time. But then he diminished such a question as he realized just what kind of girl is his partner. So, he decided to start looking for the spices needed in the note. Hayama walked toward the big cabinets which lined up by the wall, and saw countless seasonings as well as preserved spices stored in it. Hayama took the dried red chili then smelled it. He shook his head slowly as its smell didn't please him. "It's too shallow, and it won't bring out the fresh-hunted meat's delicacy well." He commented as he moved to another section of the cabinets, took several ginger and smelled it. "It's not bad, but I need a fresh ginger to make more impact on the dish. The composition of the dish itself is simple, too simple to my taste actually. So we need to do something in its simplicity." Hayama muttered. Just now, Hayama admitted that the dish was simple, it concluded from its ingredients. But, he forgot one thing. The one whom made that recipe was Nakiri Karen, the surprising type chef whom often hid many things in her words. Hayama looked at the note again, hoped that he will found any kind of clue from it. He read one by one of the things got written on that small paper, but still found nothing.

"Anti-mainstream ingredient, you say? In this kind of place and short given time, all we can hope is no other than 'ordinary' mountain type ingredient."

Suddenly, Karen's comment got replayed which made Hayama realized something. Ordinary mountain type ingredient, it referred not only for the hunted-meat which being assigned to Nakiri Karen herself. It referred to the mountain type vegetable and spice plantation too. It must be Karen's reason for choosing those ingredients. Then, as she has left the task of looking for the vegetable and spice in Hayama's care, whom not familiar enough with forest-mountain things, Karen must had left the clue for Hayama. It was Hayama's thought.

"Wait." Hayama reminded himself as he remembered something from Karen's odd gesture before. "When Chef Inui explained about this assignment, she looked around this building. No. It would be true if she looked at the 'outside' around this building. When she asked me before too, she seems to draw some-" Hayama didn't continue his words as he took a look at the back of the note. Lucky! He found a simple, draw making map with a short explanation in it. "It seems that I will get better ingredients there." Hayama placed the note inside his chef uniform pocket, then took a jar filled with miso paste and placed it on his workstation. After that, he went to the storehouse to get a basket and dashed out to the vegetable and spice plantation just like in the map drawn by Karen.


At another place, still in Toutsuki Resort Area

Hisako walked carefully as once in a while she looked around at her surroundings to find edible ingredient to put into her basket. Two steps ahead her, the almighty Nakiri Erina walked with her solemn face. She let her long, honey blonde hair laid freely behind her back as her purple eyes looked at the evergreen scape which decorated almost all the part of that place. Their first assignment was with Chef Mizuhara Fuyumi, and that female alumni has asked Hisako and Erina, as well as the other first-year students in their group, to make an Italian dish with ingredient which spread in the large forest-mountain type environment which surrounded their training building. As most of the freshmen in their group decided to use fish as their main ingredient, Erina decided to use another kind of main ingredient in their upcoming dish. So, both Erina and Hisako took another route to find their main ingredient.

"Erina-sama, I'm sorry for my impoliteness. May I ask you what kind of main ingredient will be used in this assigned dish?" Hisako asked for the first time since the two left the training building to look for their dish's ingredient.

"Chicken." Erina answered shortly but clearly, still having her sight over the thick greenery around them. "In this large area, we aren't only can use the natural-wild plants and animals which live here. Toutsuki also breed the chicken, duck, even quail. They built several kind of vegetable and spice plantation as well. If not, they won't set fence, right?"

Hisako listened to Erina's short explanation in silence. "That's right. Also, the lecturer won't confident enough to give us this kind of assignment if there wasn't any decent ingredient to use in this place."

"The question here is how we get that decent ingredient in this unfamiliar place. Even we have known about that fact, in this limited time we can't spend it carelessly." Erina spoke the truth. Even for herself, the heir of Nakiri family, she still unfamiliar with the forest-mountain area which surrounded the training building. She wasn't field type person, and she didn't has a good intuition in choosing the right way which led her and her companion to their aimed place. In this kind of situation, the one whom will be put in so much advantage is no other than her twin sister, Nakiri Karen. Since they're very young, the older Nakiri twin loved to go to the 'little forest' near Nakiri mansion. She always got back with her hunted animal, or anti-mainstream vegetable which previously looked inedible but turned into a delicious dish in the end. It wasn't a secret anymore for Nakiri family, as well as the ones whom close to Nakiri family, that Nakiri Karen isn't just good in making sweets, but she is undoubtedly good in wild-game styled dish too. Erina stopped when she found a small tomato farm, which made Hisako whom followed her stopped too. "It seems that we should pick them first then proceed to look for the chicken."

Just when both Erina and Hisako walked toward the tomato farm, they found another vegetable plantation next to it, as well as the spice plantation. Erina put a big amount of ripe tomato into their basket, while Hisako put any kind of spice which she found and got listed in the small note she brought with. Hisako got a bit surprised by the tomato in their basket. It seemed that Erina wasn't intended to cook a chicken dish, but a tomato dish.

"Ano, Erina-sama. Are you sure we need all of this tomato?"

"Of course. We need them to make a fresh tomato sauce." Erina answered shortly. "Good, you've got all the spices we needed, Hisako. Let's go to get the chicken."

"Hai, Erina-sama."

It was when they have got their main ingredient and got back to the training building that Hisako realized what kind of dish Nakiri Erina intended to make. Pollo alla cacciatora, a simple and traditional dish prepared with some little differences in almost all the regions of Italy. The chicken is jointed into pieces and quickly pan-fried, then slowly stewed in a tasty tomato sauce. As Nakiri Erina started pan-frying the chicken, Hisako started making the tomato sauce carefully.

Although from the outer look she looked calm, stayed in her elegant image as she's waiting for her chicken to be cooked perfectly, Erina can't stopped cursing inside her heart. She wanted to scream out, to crush every single thing in front of her. It included the chicken in the pan which still in the cooking process. Erina tried hard to erase her sister's influence inside her mind, but to no avail, she can't. The dish she prepared itself, was inspired by one of Karen's dish back then. Pollo alla diavola, a grilled chicken meat seasoned with strong cayenne pepper and served with a very spicy sauce. Erina still remembered well how her mouth felt like on fire once she took a taste on that dish. She felt like got burnt by Karen's wild cooking. The dish itself wasn't into her taste, but it lingered in Erina's memory in the strange way. Erina's mind never accepted such dish into her 'delicious' list, and has sworn to herself that she will definitely make that dish far better than the one made by Karen.

"Despite of your imperfect dish, why... I'm always got inspired by it..." Erina muttered as she got her grip on the pan tighter.


Karen kept walking as she hasn't found the right place to 'spy' over her prey. She barely set a trap for rabbit not far from the thick bushes at the hill next to the stream where the rest of the freshmen in her group had their 'fishing competition'. She has set the trap perfectly, camouflaged it with some dried tree branch as well as the dry-fallen leaves. Not to forget put the rabbit's favorite food into her trap so the said mammals could fell into her trap smoothly. All the things she needed to do is wait. It was when she saw a big rock not far from the place where she set her trap, she decided to take a short rest on that big rock. Made a dish from the ingredient in that large area, it wasn't a big deal for Karen. She has did that thing countless times back in Nakiri mansion, also in her holidays. She put her knives tool-box just next to her feet. From above the rock, she can saw the panic freshmen cursed out loud because they hadn't got a single fish. Some of them even looked like a total fool in Karen's eyes as they can't see the ingredient which they looked for even it 'shown' in front of them. When she saw that nerve-wrecking show, Karen realized what is the reason behind that assignment.

" When they faced the unfamiliar situation, their mind will got narrowed. They will act carelessly and made a wrong choice. To give this kind of assignment in the first day of training camp, Toutsuki is intended to expel short-minded type chefs." Karen narrated to herself. Just then, she didn't see Souma – Megumi pair as well as Aldini brothers in those group of freshmen by the stream. "I'm sure enough that Sou-kun and Megu-chan decided to look for fish as their main ingredient as well, based on the fishing rod and basket they brought earlier. Maybe, they chose another spot? Then, how about Aldini brothers?" Karen started mumbling random things as she let her brain stormed into various things related to the said half-Italian teen chefs. Her rose gold eyes scanned throughout the place where most of the freshmen were, but didn't find the Aldini twins. "Nah, for a prideful chef like him, he must looked for something else for their main ingredient."

Ting!

Just then the small bell which attached with the rope she used to set the trap rang, informed her that the rabbit already fell into her trap. Karen walked toward the place where she set her trap, then saw not only one. Four cute gray furred rabbits fell into that trap, ate the freshly harvested carrot while struggled to go out of the trap. Karen stayed still in her place, eyed the rabbits in silent. She sighed shortly, then took a knife she used to skin her hunted mammals. "I just need one of you, but... it will be my fault if I left the three of you injured like that."


"I'm glad... we could get some fish, Souma-kun." Megumi said with relief voice as she helped her partner by bringing the fishing rod. While the red haired boy brought the basket filled with their fish. Both of them were in their way back to the training building.

"You're right, Tadokoro. Let's go back to the..." Souma didn't continue his sentence as he met the Aldini brothers at the entrance door of the training building. "Judge it impartially..." Souma said it as if teasing the blonde haired Aldini which is succeed in making the latter got his face in deep red.

Once they entered the training kitchen, Takumi made a surprised face as almost all the student in that group brought the same type of main ingredient which was fish. "Hmph! You're using fish too? Good grief, all of you... cooking fish just because the theme is Japanese food, isn't your way of thinking too narrow?"

All the attention got sent to the older Aldini brothers after the said teen said those allusive sentence. Included Souma and Megumi whom just entered the kitchen. Some students whom previously busy with cleaning the fish came into halt too. Being one of those whom got insulted, Souma sent Takumi a sharp look before asked Takumi.

"What's with you?! Getting all cocky. Then, what are you..."

"Hmm... do you know what this is?" Takumi cut off Souma's question as he showed his main ingredient to Souma as well as the rest of first-year students there.

"It's aigamo!"

One of the students shouted out that name. Aigamo, a cross between a mallard and a domestic duck. Takumi could saw surprised looks on the face of the students, while he just showed his small smirk at those ridiculous showdown.

"There weren't just aigamo. There were rabbits and chicken too, you know? It's weird that no one even tried to search for them!" Takumi spoke again, told the 'narrow-minded' students another fact which got forgotten by them.

"Shit! So there was an option other than river fish..."

"But, we don't even know how she'll judge us..."

The kitchen fell into chaos once that fact got revealed. But, it didn't make the one whom cooked his miso soup at the end line of workstation to pay attention at the source of that commotion. He has expected that the half-Italian brothers will got back with different kind of main ingredient so it didn't surprise him. He just got a bit curious about the kind of dish they will made. Between his work of preparing the things Karen will needed, Hayama could heard Takumi Aldini started commanding his younger brother to assist him. Some gasps at the amazing skill displayed by the brothers. Hayama's nose immediately caught the fragrance of several seasons used by Takumi in his cooking.

"He's cooking like usual, precise and elegant. He also has an assistant whom support him greatly. As expected of them, Takumi Aldini and Isami Aldini, the ones whom protected their shop from the kitchen of Trattoria Aldini." Hayama narrated to himself as he put down his small cup which he used to take a taste of his advanced miso soup. He let the flame of the stove got dimmed a bit as he got his attention on the half-Italian brothers whom had their attention solely on Souma – Megumi pair.

"You said that you 'don't plan to lose to some bunch that has never stood in front of clients', right? Say that after you've defeated me." Takumi seemed didn't tire of challenging the red haired boy. "Between Aldini and Yukihira... I'll show you which is better!"

"Sounds fun!"

A voice chirped just after Takumi's words, made all the students in that room froze, then looked at the one who stood by the door. She wore her amused look over her beautiful face. Her left hand brought a blue colored cool-box, while the right one brought her knives tool-box. She walked into that room as if nothing happened just now, then placed the blue cool-box on the workstation placed at the most front-line then took out a clean, complete skinned, medium sized rabbit from that cool-box, which made most of the students got their jaw dropped. It was between shock and disbelief. The popular, simple-loving, and sweets freak Nakiri Karen, brought back a finely hunted mammals meat.

"It just makes that clear..." Karen stopped just right in front of Takumi. "There is no reason for me to involve in your challenge, Tak-kun."

"Nakiri... what are you..."

"Am I wrong?" Karen cut Takumi's question before it got completed. "Since the first place, the challenge is between Aldini and Yukihira, right? A challenge between 'pro', I assume? So, there's no place for a mere student like me to get into it." Karen patted Takumi's right shoulder as she whispered another words. "Save your energy to challenge me in another time, Tak-kun."

Takumi got speechless while saw Karen left him and walked toward her partner whom already waiting in their assigned workstation. With his rage kept raising inside his heart, Takumi got back to his workstation and worked at his unfinished business. While Souma, he didn't know how to comment at the sudden turn of event in front of his eyes.

"R... Ren-san is amazing. How could she got that rabbit in that short time?" Megumi commented with a low frequency voice of hers. Her gleaming honey colored eyes caught every single thing did by Karen in her workstation without a pause. It was Megumi's first time saw the older Nakiri twins cooking another thing than dessert. She looked at the jet-black haired girl in awe as the latter cut the rabbit meat into pieces without any difficulty.

"I thought she is beyond amazing, Tadokoro." Souma's word brought Megumi's attention back to her partner whom already stood by the most front-line workstation, looked at the blue cool-box which stayed on it. Megumi walked toward Souma's place, stood beside him then covered her mouth with both of her hands as her eyes saw three rabbits with the same size as the one which brought by Karen earlier, in that cool-box. "Huhuhu... just what kind of chef she is really? Nakiri Karen..."