Chapter 89: Master and Apprentice
"Well Buchi…" the small purple haired forth seat spoke dreamily as she cradled her stuffed cat doll in her arms. "Why don't we show this plebeian country bumpkin that her ilk isn't welcome here at Tōtsuki".
Standing behind her workstation ignoring all distractions, including Saitō and Eizan as they worked at their own stations, Momo scowled as she noticed the lax arrogant style of the new deputy director slouched across a sofa on the sidelines of the judges panel. An indifferent expression on his face whilst holding his left hand in front of his face almost as if he was checking his nails.
Suddenly, as if he'd just sensed the forth seat's eyes up him, he raised his head and fixed Momo with an determined smirk - before redirecting his gaze towards his sister; Erina. A vicious predatory smirk replacing his earlier indifference.
Deciding that he wasn't worth any more of her time, the forth seat narrowed her eyes and retrained her bitterness towards the younger Tadokoro sibling.
Ever so slightly turning her head to observe her opponents behaviour and cooking style, she felt a sickly feeling well up in her chest as she saw the other girl making apple purée.
'So far and yet so unrefined...' she mused internally, a sweet smile growing on her face as she turned back to her workstation.
"Plebeian baseborn cur", she growled as she realised that Asahi was once again staring pointedly at her. Although her words were stated under her breath they were still loud enough for Asahi to hear, and resulted in a furious scowl to develop on his face.
Clenching his fists as he gripped tightly onto the arms of the sofa he was lounging on, Asahi reforged a his scowl into a malicious sadistic smirk.
"Watch your tongue brat!" He murmured in a dangerously gravely tone. "Your not the first high society chef that has fallen to my Cross-Knives".
Shivering under the deputies gaze Momo Ignored her newest fellow Central ally and simply huffed indignantly before poring out hot praline on the table and moulding it into triangles. Afterwards, she began rolling out pastry and then layering pieces into the formal shape of an intricate wickerwork basket complete with handle.
Looked up from her oven she caught sight of her again opponent whom was seemingly mixing dough in a bowl, and beside her was a tray of freshly cooked - now cooling down - brandy snaps.
'Megumi Tadokoro...' the fourth seat mused to herself, curiously. 'I hope that you can show me that you posses a modicum of your brother's skill... or else I'll consign you to temporal inadequacy'.
Immediately as she thought that, Momo shuddered in surprise at the level of emotion that Kensuke's sister had brought from her. Huffing haughtily as she picked up her stuffed cat doll, hugging it tightly to her body whilst cooing childishly as she peppered the doll with kisses Momo smiled softly up at the audience.
"Aww Buchi! You're so cute~!" She grinned playfully.
"Momo…" she heard the voice of the fifth seat, Saitō Sōmei, remind her. "Focus on your cooking. Central has just seen Kensuke injured; as well as Tsukasa and Rindō becoming unbalanced by that".
Sighing as he fidgeted with his huge sushi blade, Saitō looked genuinely saddened by his fellow council member's situations. "I know you're confident in your skills and experience..." he continued plainly, "but do not underestimate these rebels".
"Oh come on Saitō…" Eizan interjected with a chuckle. "Your kidding right? Little miss 'nearly-was-expelled' is no match for the Fairy Godmother. Kensuke is one thing but she isn't on her brothers level. Not now nor will ever be!"
Shaking his head in exasperation, Saitō bit his tongue to prevent himself from lashing out at Eizan's disrespectful and callous remakes towards the third seat.
Deciding that making a scene would only create the illusion of central being divided, the fifth seat simply turned away muttering under his breath that 'Rindō wouldn't have let that comment slide if she was still here".
"Relax Sōm~uyan..." Momo piped up, the grin on her face framed by her purple bangs. "I'm well aware that my opponent is a blood relative of the 'Silent King'. Therefore I'm not going to hold back".
With yet another glare at her opponent Momo waved off Megumi's presence, and challenge, as irrelevant to centrals continued goals to obliterate Japan's culinary scene.
"Plus..." she spoke up again, "the look in that boring non-cute pigtailed girl's eyes is really pissing me off! I mean really? How does she even cook? She's so far beneath us it's not even funny... what does Sōma Yukihira even see in her?"
A haughty laugh broke free from her throat and she smiled broadly, overcoming her shyness, and her face becoming red from both excitement and anger. Gritting her teeth, Momo picked up her pastry basket and placed it into the oven for baking.
Standing her ground in the face of worry from Saitō , as well as derision from Asahi, Momo grabbed a kilogram box of the theme ingredient - Apples. After coring and cutting up the near kilogram of fruit into a pot she added a little bit of sugar before placing the pot over a low heat of the stove to get the fruit to soften into a purée.
Smiling to herself the forth seat filled another large pot with water from the sink and set it on a second stove stove to boil before emptying; to the utter shock of the whole auditorium, a bag of damask rose petals into the water.
Smiling proudly as she stood by her workstation gently stirring the simmering rose petals; whilst ignoring the way deputy director galore at her, Momo began to carve Individual rose petals out of apple.
Ignoring the other ongoing cook-offs around her then being Takumi and Eizan, as well as Mimasaka and Saitō, the forth seat glanced around her and sneered as she noticed that she was being 'closely' observed by both Erina and Isshiki.
Picking up Buchi again from her kitchen seat, Momo hurried her far in the toy's chest. "Urgh! Such a pain..." she groaned in annoyance. "If only the instructors had been more proficient in getting rid of the trash".
Watching on in astonishment at the way chef Momo worked, Megumi bit her tongue to avoid letting herself become overwhelmed by the skill of the forth seat. Sighing lazily, involuntarily giving the impression that she was wasn't taking this match seriously, she refocused her gaze and continued to mix up the dough mixture in the bowl on her workstation before her.
A clatter of metal jolted Megumi's attention away for her cooking and back upon her opponent who had now finished coring her own apples and placed them all into a pot with lemon juice - to stop the fruit going brown in the air - and sugar over on the stovetop.
Remaining calm even in the face of such contemptuous comments and beg out from the audience, Central supporters and from Momo herself - for her and her friends futures depended on it - Megumi took a deep breath and waved at her friends offside of the cooking stage.
Smiling, keeping her nerves from showing, she smiled as broadly as she could and spoke plainly. "Don't worry guys. I'll be fine", she gently replied.
Grinning back broadly and proudly, Sōma gave his girlfriend a double thumbs up before yelling: "You got this Megs!"
"Indeed she does!" Isshiki and Erina spoke simultaneously backed up by a nod of agreement from Kuga.
"Agreed..." a deep voice suddenly interjected. "She may not show it all the time but I can now see the quiet fire that burns within her".
"Megishima?" Isshiki quirked wryly. "I thought you said you wanted no part of our fight back?" Narrowing his eyes, the former seventh seat stared at his former-former council colleague. "So... you just showed up because...?"
"Because..." Megishima retorted in exasperation. "I of him", he pointed towards the oblivious yet still-cheering Sōma. "I didn't join you not because I don't like what Azami is doing but because I didn't want to draw at attention to Centrals ire to the Ramen industry".
"However..." he continued bowing his head in apology, "that boy's speech about culinary freedom moved me. And I'd like to see how far he goes tonight".
"Megumi!" Erina abruptly yelled, startling the chefs immediately at her sides. "Show Central what you learned from Chef Shinomiya!"
The abruptness of positivity injected by Erina's sudden yell - following on from Sōma's loud pronouncement of support for his girlfriend; as well as the same level of sheer excitement from their fellow rebel chefs - took the entire venue hall's present audience by surprise.
Either grinning and cheering in support of Megumi or booing in exasperated jealousy depending on where the audience's loyalties lay, it was clear that they were all now reevaluating Megumi as a chef, now that they all knew that she had received training from the legendary Legume Magician.
Grinning as he patted Erina on the shoulder, making her blush in embarrassment, Sōma simply whispered back his heartfelt thanks to Erina for all she had done for them. "Thanks Erina... I really mean it".
"You really are a modern day Joan of Arc", they both heard Takumi murmur. "Just without the gruesome ending..." the Italian boy added for divergences sake.
Spinning around, Isshki was stunned by the sight of Erina's joyful expression and he couldn't help but chuckle at Hisako and Alice's gawping reactions.
"You tell 'em Erina!" Kuga yelled appearing at in between Sōma and Erina, grinning madly as if her were some combination of the mad hatter and the cheshire cat.
"By the way…" Isshki heard the former eighth seat whispered to Sōma. "Megs? Don't you think calling her by your pet name for her will just embarrass her rather than encouraging her?"
Unable to hide his happy laughter, Isshiki grinned to himself as he remembered all the times back at Kyokusei Dormitory when everyone had been rooting for Megumi to tell Sōma how she felt
Responding with a simple raised eyebrow, the redhead boy shook his head and placed his arm around Kuga's shoulders and returned his gaze back upon the stage.
"Nah, Megumi will be fine..." the red headed boy grinned back, utter surety brimming in his eyes. "Just look at her!" He gestured proudly. "She's got this, said so herself".
Two weeks prior - Onboard the Tsukikage express
"Hello there dimwit!" The familiar droll voice carried through the air of the train's kitchen. "Looks like you somehow managed to not get kicked out of Tōtsuki".
Rooted to the spot as she zeroed in on that familiar voice whilst ignoring her growing desire to flee - that had so paralysed her with fear back at the 'training session from hell' - Megumi immediately broke out in cold sweats as footsteps entered the train compartment.
Grabbing ahold of her sleeves, the blue haired girl hung her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Not looking up but dropping her left hand to her side, she attempted to squeeze Sōma's hand for reassurance.
However, her hand was left grabbing at air and she was suddenly reminded of Dōjima's declaration just minutes before.
'Up to this point the mock battles you have faced have strengthened your teamwork alone..' the executive chef had stated plainly. 'But make no mistake your bouts in the Team Food War will also be individually challenging too'.
Taking a very deep breath Megumi looked up into the scowling eyes of Kojirō Shinomiya - her designated teacher.
'So we will now begin with personalised individual training...' she recalled Senzaemon speaking. 'Sōma with Jōichirō. Erina with myself, Takumi with Dōjima. And...'
Shivering under the intense glare of the Legume Magician the blue haired girl silently bemoaned that Dōjima had left the room leaving her with Kojirō alone.
"Hello, C-C-Chef Shinomiya…" she spluttered nervously.
Interrupting the first year rebel chef, Kojirō pushed his glasses up his nose and stepped forwards. "Well for starters go ahead and show me what you've already got, cooking skill-wise. Make me something. You choose what".
What filled the hours to come was a complete morass of culinary mistakes, maledictions and flustered exasperation.
From time to time, Sōma, Erina and Takumi would stop, watch and cheer encouragement to their fellow rebel chef. And on many of these times they would hear Kojirō and Dōjima talking.
'I'm just acting on a whim…' she remembered Shinomiya saying to her upon their seeing each other again.
'Neither Central nor Azami pose any real interest to me...' he'd continued ruefully. 'And given that my position in the culinary world speaks for itself', he tapped his chest boastfully.
'I'm certainly not going to align myself with an untested sordid third party organisation that seeks to limit the culinary scope that I am trying to break through. They offer me nothing but grief and hassle'.
In the moments watching Megumi stand before, and cook for, chef Shinomiya; Sōma, Takumi and Erina had all shared a smug grin as they all realised that alongside them was a former first seat of the Council of Ten.
Kojirō Shinomiya had rebuffed Azami's call and was now taking time out from running his restaurants to assist them in their training for the Regiment de Cuisine against the aforementioned Director.
Moreover, by choosing to mentor Megumi specifically he was now making it known that he'd seen enough potential in her to answer Dojima's call.
"You, Dimwit..." Shinomiya stated flatly. "No dawdling! Start cooking now or else!"
Seeing the blue haired girl raise her head and both towards the arrangement of kitchen utensils and cooking equipment; with set determination on her face, Sōma had grinned before leaving to go train with his one teacher.
Rebun Island - Megumi Vs. Momo
"She'll be fine..." Sōma repeated quietly to Kuga, and Isshiki, as he observed the fire burning in his girlfriend's eyes. "Megumi isn't the same chef as she was before; she's got double the determination than any of us here to win. For us and for Ken".
Glancing over at her opponent, Megumi tried her hardest not to become flustered by her opponents patisserie skills in comparison to her own.
'Don't think about chef Momo', she internally mused, concentrating on whisking tofu, soy sauce and honey into a smooth mix.
Nodding her head, appraising her work, Megumi sifted flour, sugar and baking powder into the mix before carefully combining the contents to another bowl containing stiff egg whites.
"You sure you're Kensuke's little sister right? Of what I've seen so far you're nothing like him", the forth seat spoke incredulously, her voice suddenly sounding genuinely curious rather than her usual condescension.
"I'll say this for him though…" she continued with a faint nostalgic smile gracing her face.
"The first time I ever got to see him cook, he possessed this overwhelming aura that made me drop to my knees", she exclaimed clutching at her cat doll.
"Never speaking... never looking up and always with one familiar sous chef by his side. I never really understood why the gourmands lavished such praise on him. Yet on that day I saw why they all called him the 'Silent King'".
A steady tear rolled down Megumi's face as she remembered how happy she'd been at seeing the seeming progress that Ken had made during his food war against Sōma. Her brother's calm and at ease appearance had pleased her, but now; whilst then had been genuine, she realised that it wasn't yet permanent.
As she continued listening to Momo's tale, Megumi found that her heart ache was lessened simply by finding out how the forth seat had built up a begrudging respect for the person whom occupied the seat directly above her.
With a sigh the blue haired girl grabbed a frying pan from the side storage rack and placed it in the stove. Smiling, she placed some butter chunks in to melt before ladling in the mixture from her bowl.
Then arising from the pan came that wondrous 'sizzling' sound of cooking pancakes combined with glorious aroma of caramelised sugar filled the air.
Flipping all of her pancakes in the one large pan, she then lowered the heat on the stove to prevent them from burning before turning her attention towards the pancake filling.
A loud cheer suddenly erupted from the audience, startling her but she paid it no mind knowing full well that those in attendance were all Central supporters whom were most likely cheering for Eizan.
Tuning out the extraneous noise she began to combine the simmered apple which had now formed a purée, with lemon juice and azuki bean paste when out of the corner of her eye she saw the scoreboard.
'Two - One'.
Deciding to divert some of her attention to observe Takumi's fight, a huge smile sprang across Megumi's face as she saw the eighth seat on hands and knees screaming obscenities at Takumi whilst Director Azami was busy admonishing his two new judges for siding with the rebels.
"And the winner of the first bout of the second round is rebel Italian cur:Takumi Aldini!"
The manner by which the emcee declared Takumi's victory could best be described as polite with blatant undertones of pure disdain.
'A begrudged acceptance', the girl thought to herself as she watched the directors personal aid abruptly turn his back to her elder Italian friend.
Stifling a chuckle, she removed the pancakes off the skillets and began to spread the apple sweet bean paste onto one the pancakes before sandwiching two together.
"Judges!" Megumi announced walking forwards carrying three plates in her arms. "I have made for you a Dorayaki inspired by a favourite French dessert of mine. Please enjoy", she spoke between gritted teeth.
Placing three plates with three individual Dorayaki on them before the three 'impartial' judges, Megumi raised her hand and stopped them from eating.
"My apologies..." she interjected wryly. "But could you please wait a moment whilst I add the final application to the finalised dish".
Hurrying back to her workstation Megumi grabbed a saucepan from the stovetop and then picked up a blowtorch before moving back towards the judges dais.
'This is for you master', she thought gracefully. 'You inspire and terrify me but I'll always respect you. I'm your apprentice after all'.
After pouring over the Dorayaki, a transparent sweet smelling sauce, she proceeded to then ignite the blowtorch and set aflame the dessert with small dazzling blue flames.
"Now my dessert is complete", she finished grinning. "This is my take on a classic Crêpe Suzette-Japanese style", she added with a bow.
"I hope you enjoy my Apple Shiroan Dorayaki with Elderflower Flambé. Served with Chantilly filled Brandy Snaps!"
R.I.P:
[George] Ivy Jo Hunter. R musician and Motown record producer.
Kathleen Booth. Mathematician and pioneering computer scientist.
[I missed my publish date by a day. Sorry all. Bonfire Night was too wild!]