Life Is But A Game

Author's Notes: Firstly, I do not own any of the characters in this fanfiction. They belong to Konami's Genso Suikoden 2 and maybe 1 as well. Everything in this fanfic belongs to the game. I just elaborate on it...

Here's a fic on how hard it is to be a Suikoden 2 hero. This shows the different scenarios in the hero's journey and he had to deal with it. There may be some Out-Of-Characterness. Btw, the Hero's name here is Riou.

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I do not believe this...Riou thought as he stood behind Hai Yo, waiting for their cue to march into the battle area. Earlier that day, Riou went to the restaurant to fill up his growling stomach, only to bump into a huge crowd of onlookers. Squeezing through the packed audience Riou stood in between two groups, which seemed like cat and dogs. Hai Yo was standing on one side, looking unusually grim. The opposite side was a man in blue clothes Riou never met. If he didn't own such a huge castle with different people moving in and out every day, Riou would have suspected the man as an enemy. He was going to remain silent in his position when Hai Yo saw his bright clothes,

"Lord Riou! Thank goodness you are here! I need your help!"

Riou reluctantly stepped into the spotlight and had taken the place of Hai Yo in receiving death stares from the man in blue. Riou found out that the man in blue was indeed an enemy. I shall talk to Shu about letting too many people in and out the castle so easily. If only my night guards are as lenient... The man in blue had come demanding a recipe from Hai Yo and would not return until he has it. Riou thought it would be fine to help. A little show of skills would scare him away, so he agreed to help. After all, who else was there to cook for his people (and him) if Hai Yo was injured? Little did he know that the task was way more difficult than he thought.

Here Riou stood behind the curtains, with a pink chef hat similar to Hai Yo's, but smaller and more...feminine. This must be Nanami's... True, Nanami had tried several times to cook in Hai Yo's kitchen and that raised hell. Hai Yo had to make her a small chef token and persuade her that she no longer needed to experiment, as she was already a master chef to get her out of his kitchen. That trick worked for a week, not more. Riou received tons of letters of complaints in the suggestion box every time Nanami stepped into the kitchen.

The MC announced their names and Hai Yo and Riou stepped out into a large stage where two sets of cooking ware were set up and a long table stood behind them. Still oblivious to what was happening, Riou asked Hai Yo,

"What is that table for?"

"Why, Lord Riou! This is a cooking contest! Therefore judges will be present! It's common sense now, isn't it?"

A cooking WHAT?? Putting Nanami out of the way, Riou has got to be the worst cook ever in Suikoden history! Shouldn't Hai Yo ask for Gremio's help instead? Riou's face turned purple immediately, longing to run back to his room and sleep his hunger away. Hai Yo saw his longing and smiled brightly,

"Nothing to worry about, Lord Riou! I will be doing all the cooking and as you are my assistant, I'll tell you what to do and nothing will go wrong!"

The great hero of the entire game was to be a small assistant for a chef in a side quest contest...what will the creators think of next?? Riou agreed, knowing there was no backing out and that listening to Hai Yo was the only way to get through this ridiculous game. He just hoped the judges were nice ones.

"And now, for the judges!"

Millie came out and sat on the first seat, surprisingly, without Bonaparte. Either she left it in the care of someone else or it had run away again, and the latter seemed more likely. Riou felt a spark of hope, as he knew what sort of delicacies Millie liked. During his short travel with her (he couldn't stand Bonaparte so he had to kick her out of the party) he realized she like sweet foods. Riou threw his hope away the moment he saw who came up next. Sarcastic, icy, grumpy Luc. He could not imagine how they managed to persuade him to join this contest, but Riou figured he was unwilling with that frown on his face. Great, we can forget about getting full points... The next judge almost made Riou jump into the lake. A very noisy Gadget appeared and sat next to Luc. Luc was thinking the same thing as Riou, though he was more expressionless. What kind of food would please a machine? No, does Gadget even eat our foods at all? I thought it just drinks oil! Last came Sid, sniggering as he got to his seat and scaring most of the children in the audience away. Riou felt despair overtake him. He looked at Hai Yo and knew he wasn't alone. Hai Yo was smiling defiantly, as if to challenge all those judges in front of him, but his glands betrayed him as sweat was pouring down his shirt. Riou felt no assurance, but he decided to give it his best. As they were discussing which recipes to use, Riou realized they had a tiny selection to choose from. This is all my fault. I should have collected all the recipes on the way... Nevertheless, he was very sure when he chose sweet croquettes and fried ice cream for the appetizer and dessert. At least he could please one judge. As for the main, Hai Yo chose Tai-Chili style fish, as it was the most famous dish in the restaurant.

It was time to start. Both Hai Yo and Riou were busy scurrying about the table and preparing the meals. Riou didn't have to do much while making the croquettes. Hai Yo did all the work, all Riou did was stand by the oven and wait for it to be done. However, Riou had to chop vegetables in super fast speed to prevent Hai Yo from boiling him as well as fry the ice cream while Hai Yo is decorating the fish. All in all, time was up and the meals were done just in time.

The croquettes were great with Millie and surprisingly, with Sid. However, both Luc and Gadget gave 1 each to the appetizer. The opposing chef made Tomato Salad and that received an average of 4. Riou could be seen holding his pink hat tightly as he waited for the rest of the results. Millie winked at him. Next came the fish. A strong smell of spices emitted from the judges table and they knew what dish they were looking at. It was their all time favorite. An average of 4 and a 5 from Sid was given to Hai Yo's spicy delicacy. The man in blue's main course was Pineapple Rice, which received a dull average of 3. Next was the fried ice cream. Apparently, this was Luc's favorite as well. A high 4 was given along with Sid and Millie gave a 5, but Gadget gave it a 1 for it was too cold for his mechanical body. The opposing team had shortcake for dessert. Of course, it received full points from glucose-lover Millie and an average of 3 from the others.

Riou wrecked his brains to calculate the score and the drum roll in the background wasn't helping. He calculated that they had won by 5 points and prayed his math had not failed him. The results were out. Hai Yo received 44 points while his rival received...42! Riou was both happy that they won and disappointed that his math was horrible. Hai Yo was beaming with relief and patted Riou roughly at the back,

"Phew! That was a close call, but we made it! I knew I could count on you, Lord Riou!"  

Riou smiled feebly as he longed for his food. Hai Yo beamed and told Riou food would be served as soon as Hai Yo was done with his rival. Apparently, Hai Yo was to receive a new recipe if he defeated the man in blue and when he did, he would use it in his menu. So Riou sat starving and exhausted, but happy nonetheless, for he found out that his cooking skills were better than Nanami's. Two waitresses approached Riou's table and put down several bowls in front of him.

"Complimentary from Chef Hai Yo, Lord Riou. Enjoy!"

Riou wrinkled his eyebrows as he stared at the bowls in front of him. They were tomato soup, tomato miso soup, raw tomato with salt, tomato salad and red-hot tomatoes. Hai Yo meant it when he said he would use it in his menu. One of waitresses scurried back to Riou's table with a glass in her hand. Tomato juice, how could I forget? Riou felt his appetite vaporize, but he took the liberty to sample each dish. Either they were not bad or he was extremely hungry, as Riou managed to finish most of the tomato dishes and felt revitalized. He got up and was about to leave the restaurant when Nanami appeared from the kitchen looking for him.

"Where is Riou? I was going to let him try my new tomato and pickles soup!"

Without a tint of doubt or guilt, Riou fled from the restaurant. He was not going to eat another tomato for a long time.

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Author's Notes: Thank you for all your reviews and comments. In case I run out of ideas (which I haven't as yet), I would appreciate it if you would give me some suggestions or ideas that I can write about! Thanks~ Coming up next: More fighting scenes!