Hey there. Welcome to the 8th chapter of my second Love Hina Next fanfic. Um, I don't have much to say, so um… Let's just get down to business then!
P.S. To sora: what's 'benki'?
---Kouji Tamino
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Love Hina Next: Second Phase
Week 1, Day 6: The Challenge Continues! Go Girls! (The S-Games, Part 3)
Sakura suddenly brought out a hat out of nowhere. "The next challenge is… cooking!"
Ami's eyes widened. 'Uh oh…' she thought to herself. She raised a hand. "We don't have to cook as a group, do we?…"
Sakura shook her head. "Nuh uh! Choose your cook!" She pointed to herself. "I will be cooking myself!"
Megumi rubbed her chin. "Choose our cook?… Hmmm…" She pointed to Naoko. "Naoko will be out cook. No doubt about it."
Ami nodded. "Yeah, that's sounds like a good idea!"
Naoko's eyes widened. "Oro?" She looked around, then pointed to herself. "Me? Are you sure that you're not talking about another Naoko?" She looked under her seat, behind a counter, and all around the Game Room. "Helloooo? Other Naoko? Where are you?"
Junko sighed. "Naoko, stop that… Of course we mean you… Sis, you're the only one that can cook…"
Naoko looked away. "But…" She gasped as Ami put a hand on her shoulder.
The white haired psychic woman smiled. "It's okay, you don't have to do it…" He smile turned into a slightly evil grin. "But if Shinichi, the guy who saved your life, gets taken away, it will be your fauuult…"
Naoko's eyes widened. "Waaah! Okay, I'll do it! I don't want Shin-sama to go away!!"
'Works every time,' Ami thought to her self, grinning. 'That was kind of mean, though…'
Sakura clasped her hands. "Good! Naoko against me!"
"Wait!" Megumi yelled. "If this is a cooking contest, we need a judge, don't we?"
"Oh, don't worry about that!" Sakura assured them, waving her hand. "I sent Kazuya out to go kidnap a random cook to do the judging!" A door opening could be heard. "Oh, there he is now!"
Shinobu, being carried in by Kazuya, was trying to hit the man with her frying pan. "Let me go, damn it! I have a husband, you know! He'll kick your a--" She saw the others and smiled. "Oh, hello there!"
Ami raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Shinobu?"
Shinobu looked over to the person calling her name and smiled. "Ami! Hello! What are you doing here?"
Ami giggled. "Um, I'm kind of living here right now!"
Shinobu nodded. "That's good!" She chuckled. "I was worried about you moving out so suddenly with so little money, but it looks like you found a very nice place to stay!"
Sakura pouted, stomping her foot. "Hey, no fair! You two know each other! Kazuya, take her back to--"
Ami waved her hands. "No, that's all right! Shinobu is one of the most honest people I know!"
Sakura rubbed her chin. "Hmm… Well, if you say so…" She smiled. "Besides, I cheated last time, so even if she does judge by favorites, that'll make it even!"
Naoko gasped. "Ms. Ami, you know Shinobu Maehara Jenrya, the Copper Chef?!"
"Copper Chef?…" Megumi asked, confused.
Shinobu scowled. "Yeah… They said I wasn't good enough for Iron Chef, those damn know nothing ba--" She gasped and remembered where she was. She giggled nervously. "Well, shall we get started, then?"
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And so…
Challenge 2 out of 5: Cooking
Dish to cook: Pizza.
Naoko and Sakura sat at different counters, each with identical ingredients at their disposal. Flour, yeast, water, a jar of tomato sauce, an assortment of vegetables and meats, 3 cheeses, octopus and… gumdrops. They had all the necessary equipment and there were five ovens. Everyone was back in their normal clothes and the two cooks were wearing blue aprons.
Shinobu walked up, picked up a pepper, and took a bite out of it. "These are the rules… You are to make a pizza of any variety! Looks do not matter, but I may take how nice looking the dish is during the scoring… The best tasting pizza wins! Begin!"
And so, the cooking frenzy began. They mixed the flour and water into dough and began to knead it. Everyone watched in amazement as they expertly spun and tossed the dough into the familiar shape. Soon, the crust was ready. They began to open their jars of sauce and this is where the similarities in their styles ended. While Sakura quickly spread the sauce, Naoko slowly and evenly spread the sauce on her crust. Sakura soon began to grate the cheese over her pizza, while Naoko was just finishing with the sauce. Soon, Naoko began to grate her cheese, but applied the different cheeses in layers. That is, she would grate one cheese over the pizza, but stop about halfway, then move on the next cheese. Then she would repeat after using all three cheeses.
Now came the next drastic change in styles. By the time Naoko had finished applying cheese, Sakura had finished her uncooked octopus pizza and was working on another pizza. "Better hurry up, kiddo! I'm on my next pizza already!"
Naoko paid her no mind and stuck with her steady pace. Now was the time to put on her topping. Which just happened to be gumdrops. Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Gumdrops?! Are you sure about that, Naoko?"
Junko, wearing a black sleeveless shirt and shorts, nodded. "I have to agree with the dork… Gumdrops on pizza?"
Sakura put her octopus pizza in the oven, fixed the settings, then went back to her second pizza, putting some sauce on it. She cackled. "I'm sorry, but that pizza will never win! Especially since I have more than one!"
After finishing putting the gumdrops on her pizza, Naoko put her pizza in the oven. She smiled. "Almost done! That was pretty fun, actually!" She watched as Sakura finished up her second pizza, a pepperoni pizza. Sakura popped that one in the oven, and everyone waited as the pizzas cooked.
Ami cleared her throat. "Um, Naoko?…"
Naoko looked up to Ami. "Yes, Ms. Ami?"
"Ummm… I don't mean to be nosy, but what was with the gumdrops?…"
Naoko scratched her head. "Weeeell… I like pizza… and I like gumdrops… so I thought that maybe I could put the two together!"
Everyone face faulted. Megumi smacked her forehead. "Ugh, chalk another one up for Sakura's side…"
Naoko looked down sadly. "But… I was just…"
Shinichi his hand on her head. "It's okay, Naoko… You were just trying to help…" He gulped. "But now, my chances of becoming Sakura's sex slave are steadily increasing… She wins one more, and it's an automatic victory and--"
"And you're her man-bitch for life…" Junko muttered. "So we can't screw anything up…"
"Junko!" Ami and Megumi screamed. "That comment was uncalled for!" Junko just shrugged.
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Soon, all of the pizzas were ready. Everyone on the 'Harem' team was biting their fingernails in nervousness. Shinobu took a look at the pizzas. Sakura's were obviously rushed, and it definitely showed. Naoko's pizza looked like a lot went into it, but the choice of topping was a little… untraditional. She decided to try Sakura's two pizzas first. She cut a slice from the octopus pizza and took a bite. She chewed on it a little and raised her eyebrow, then swallowed. "Mmmm… Nice… the octopus has a nice texture to it…" She tried the other pizza. "Very good. Most pepperoni pizzas I eat these days have over cooked, crunchy pepperoni… But that is not the case with this one."
Sakura smiled. "I'm glad that you like them!"
"But…" Shinobu began. "You rushed things. This is not a race. This was a competition of quality, not quantity." She picked up a slice of Naoko's gumdrop pizza and took a bite. Everyone inhaled. Shinobu's eyes widened and a tear rolled down her eye.
Naoko put her head in her hands. "Oh no, you hate it…"
"You silly girl…" Shinobu began, taking another bite and swallowing. "This pizza… is the greatest pizza I have ever tasted! I can actually taste the love and care taken to make it in each individual gumdrop! The three cheeses are melting in my mouth, and the sauce, despite being the same kind that Sakura used, tastes so rich!"
"Really?!" Junko screamed. "Oh hell yes, I'm getting a slice!" Junko, followed by the others, took a slice and ate it. Their eyes lit up and they all grabbed their cheeks in joy.
Tears fell down Megumi's face like waterfalls. "My god! This pizza is… is… it's better than sex!"
"Which you have never had…" Ami muttered, staring at Megumi. Her expression quickly turned into a smile. "But this pizza is really good! Even the gumdrops!"
Shinobu nodded. "So it is with great pleasure that I declare Naoko the winner! …Can I go home now?"
"Yay!" the others cheered.
Sakura growled. "That's not fair! How did your pizza win?!"
Naoko smiled. "Because… I made it with love!"
Sakura glared at the girl. "You and your 'love'…" She sighed, then shrugged, smirking. "Oh well… There's still 3 more challenges…" She pulled the hat of challenges out of nowhere, again, and pulled out another slip of paper. She read it. "The next challenge will be… art!" She looked to Shinobu. "Sure, you can leave..."
Megumi stepped up. "I will go next, then…" She smiled with confidence and egotism. "I've been told that I have an eye for art, and I'm not bad at drawing if I do say so myself… I could draw within the lines in coloring books when I was 5!"
Everyone face faulted. Sakura stood up and pointed to Kazuya. "My second in command Kazuya will face you… And I've brought in a renowned art critic today… Let's go outside, shall we? The equipment and the critic are outside…"
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Challenge 3 out of 5: Art
"Hello, Ami…" said a certain gothic island princess. "I didn't expect to meet you here…" Rikina was dressed in a short sleeve net shirt, shorts, and sandals. All black, of course. Her hair was tied up and resting on top of her head, looking slightly spiky, and she was wearing oval shaped glasses that rested on her nose and didn't cover her eyes completely.
"Rikina!" Ami yelled, waving.
Sakura sighed. "Let me guess… You know her too?"
Ami nodded. "Uh huh!" She whispered over to Sakura. "Although I'm not sure that Rikina will be as honest during this thing as Ms. Shinobu was…"
Rikina glared at Ami, crossing her arms. "Hey, I heard that! What the hell is that supposed to mean? I call it like I see it, and I won't let association get in the way of my job as an art critic…"
Sakura nodded. "All right, then! Artists, to your battle stations!"
"Um, you think that she's taking this thing too seriously?" Shinichi asked.
"Seriously…" Junko muttered, sweat dropping.
And so, they began. While Kazuya carefully applied portions of paint to his canvas, Megumi painted in long, quick strokes. Rikina watched them intently as they did their work. When it was all done, Rikina looked at each and nodded slowly. She walked over to Kazuya's detailed painting of a man carrying his child after coming home from a war. You could see every wrinkle of clothing, every dimple, you could even see separate strands of hair. She rubbed her chin. "Hmmm… crap."
Kazuya and Sakura's eyes widened. "Whhhaaaat?!"
Rikina glared. "Why can't you be more like Ms. Megumi?" She pointed to the aforementioned woman's painting, which was just streaks of red and black. "Look at this! You can just feel her pain and anguish!! The crimson red blood that is deeply rooted in her past, and the darkness that she must overcome because of it!!"
Sakura crossed her arms, turning away. "Psh, goth art critics…"
"I would appreciate it if you'd keep your comments to yourself…" Rikina replied, staring. She smiled at Ami. "Well Ami, it was nice seeing you again and meeting your new friends! Take care!" She turned around and walked away.
Sakura screamed, pulling on her hair. "Argh!! I can't take this anymore!! This is insane! You're cheating, I just know it!!"
"Hey!" Ami screamed. "Your pizza's were sloppily put together and Rikina was… um… being Rikina!"
Junko joined in. "Yeah! Now stop being a sore loser and bring on the next challenge!"
Sakura calmed down, then grinned evilly. "Oh, I will…" She reached into her hat and pulled out yet another slip. She read the slip of paper. "And our next challenge is…"
To Be Continued…
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Weeee. I'm done for the night.
