Gale-Dragon: Chapter 3 is up.

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Shokugeki no Sōma: Nashi Saito de Chīfu. Chapter 3: Initiation Party.

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"Talking"

'Thinking'

(Author Making a Comment)

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In room 205 (Marui Zenji's room)...

Yuki was really scolding Isshiki about crawling through the ceiling and scaring the other residents halfway out of their wit in the middle of the night, especially the new blind resident. The second-year student was covered in welts, those welts were the same width as Sōma's cane.

Yup, Sōma literally beat Isshiki-senpai with his cane, after the upperclassman fell out of the ceiling and landed on the bed. It wasn't until Megumi and Mayu rushed into the room to find out what all the noise was. When they saw what was happening, Megumi told the redhead that the person was another resident of the dorm, that was when Sōma stopped hitting Isshiki with his cane.

After Yuki finished scolding the second-year high school student, Sōma apologized for beating up the upperclassman. "No, no, it was my fault. I wasn't aware that you were blind, so I guess I scared you," Isshiki stated with a smile, he looked really weird with the welts running down his face.

"Maybe now you'll stop crawling through the ceiling," Shun mumbled.

Mayu couldn't help but think that the senpai was a little strange, especially since he crawls through the ceilings to greet new residents.

Isshiki took Sōma's hand, shaking it, and said "As you heard, I'm Isshiki, a second-year student. Just call me Isshiki-senpai. Everyone else is a first-year, like you." As everyone smiled, the upperclassman said: "Welcome to the Polaris Dorm, Yukihira Sōma, and Yukihira Mayumi."

Both of the twins smiled at that.

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Sakaki Ryoko poured a drink for Sōma while Mayu noticed that the label on the glass bottle was handwritten and the contents were somewhat cloudy. "Ano... Ryoko-chan... What exactly is that stuff?" the brunette twin asked the long-haired girl with a mixture of worry, suspicion, and curiosity.

With a smile, Ryoko said as she handed Sōma his 3/4 full cup "It's just juice made from rice, honest."

"Wait! Is this bootleg!?" Mayu asked with a rather shocked look on her face as Ryoko handed her a glass of the drink and repeated with a smile "It's just rice juice."

Sōma sniffed the drink, thought 'Aren't there any rules against making this stuff on campus?' and took a tiny sip. Yup, it was sake.

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Shun brought out what he smoked earlier today as Isshiki-senpai helped the others bring in more food for the group to eat. Shun brought out some smoked cheese and three different kinds of jerky.

Sōma took a bite of the jerky. "Mmm! This smoky, salty flavour is perfect!" the blind student said as he took another bite of the jerky.

Mayu took a bite of one of the slices of the smoked cheese. "Wow! This is amazing! I've never had smoked cheese before, well... Smoked cheese that wasn't burnt or melted at least," Mayu said with a smile as she took another bite. Shun blushed a bit and thanked the two. Sōma asked if he could try the smoked cheese. Shun handed a slice of the cheese to the blind redhead.

Isshiki came into the room with a plate of food and was wearing a bear printed apron... Just an apron.

This caused Mayu to turn red and squeaked.

"What's wrong Mayu?" Sōma asked his twin sister in confusion. He knew that his sister didn't scare easily, so it made him wonder what was startling her.

Shaking, Mayu stuttered out "I-I-Isshi, Isshiki-sen-senpai's o-o-only w-w-wearing an-an apron!"

"So," Sōma said with a raised brow, nothing unusual about that.

"Just an apron! Nothing else!" Mayu said covering her eyes so she didn't see the upperclassman's bare rear.

Sōma's blind eyes widened when he asked "Just an apron? Nothing underneath?"

Yuki laughed and said "Just his apron and his birthday suit." Sōma was completely silent.

Was there no sense of decency here?

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After about 30 minutes of eating (or spitting out some of Sōma's failed dishes in some cases) and partying, everyone but Sōma and Isshiki-senpai was fast asleep. The redhead covered his sleeping twin with a blanket, the apron-wearing student noticed that Mayu had an old cut on her right hand, on the skin in between her index and thumb. The second-year student figured it was from a kitchen mishap.

"Again, Sōma, welcome to Polaris. We're glad to have you and your sister," Isshiki said with a smile. Sōma smiled and said "Thanks. It's good to be here."

Isshiki noticed that they were out of food, said he'd get some more and added "I think I had some seer fish steak here somewhere. Let me whip something up." With a sweatdrop and a raised brow, Sōma asked: "Are you planning on cooking without any clothing on?"

Okay, even though the redhead was blind, whether someone was cooking in the buff or not really shouldn't matter to him. But... There were other students (and a dorm mother) in the building, people who could see. Soooooo...

Isshiki told Sōma not to worry about it and added: "Besides, I am wearing an apron~." A bigger sweatdrop appeared on the blind student's head.

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Meanwhile... Elsewhere on the Totsuki campus, more specifically, inside the Nakiri Manor...

On a beautifully decorated wall, ten hooks sat under the words Totsuki Saryo Council of Ten Master Seat Ranks. Each hook hung under a number, 1 through 10 in order. Each hook had a wooden block hanging on it and each of the blocks had a name written on them.

Under the hook marked with the #10 hung the wooden block that read Nakiri Erina.

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"There, done. Enjoy!" Ishiki said happily as he handed a plate of cooked seer fish steak a pair of chopsticks to Sōma.

The redhead tapped the tips of the chopsticks on the plate, feeling around for the food, and said with a smile "Don't mind if I do."

Sōma took a bit of the dish. It tasted like a lovely Spring day in an area full of flowers. The blind redhead couldn't help but think 'This is Amazing! The other's cooking isn't even in the same league! Is this dish better because he's a second-year or is it amazing because of something else?!'

"By the way, Sōma..." Isshiki said getting the blind red head's attention. With a smirk, the upperclassman said: "I hear you said some 'Interesting' things at the Entrance Ceremony." Isshiki took off the bandana he was wearing on his head as he continued "So you're aiming to take the top spot, eh? Well, y'know, that might not be as easy as you think."

On the wooden block under the #7 was the name Isshiki Satoshi.

With a wide smirk on his face, Isshiki said: "Allow me to properly introduce myself, Isshiki Satoshi the Seventh Seat of the Totsuki Council of Ten!"

"Wha?! You're on the Council?!" Sōma exclaimed.

With a somewhat evil glint in his eyes, the naked upperclassman stated "Your turn! I'd love to taste some of your cooking, Sōma. So what kind of dish will you make for me?"

Sōma's blind eyes narrowed and a smirk appeared on his face as he said "I never thought I'd be going up against one of the Elite Ten this quickly, but alright! I'll make ya something!" Isshiki couldn't help but grin a mischievous smile.

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Yuki awoke to the smell of fish filling up the room. Ryoko opened her tired eyes a few seconds later.

"What's Yukihira-kun doing?" Yuki asked the long-haired girl, who replied "He's cooking. Maybe he still hungry."

Shun, who was already awake, stated: "It's a cook-off."

"A Cook-Off?! Why and With Who?!" Yuki nearly shouted.

"I don't know why, but I can tell you... Isshiki-senpai started it," Shun stated calmly.

The three watched as Sōma cooked his dish and ignored Isshiki's state of dress, or undress in this case.

'The way he cooks... If you didn't already know he was blind, then you'd think he was just a regular chef,' Yuki, Ryoko, and Shun thought at the same time.

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Nakiri Senzaemon was sitting at his desk, looking over some official papers. One was a result document of a recent Shokugeki, but the Headmaster didn't really care about that right now.

The Headmaster was looking over the document in his hand with a smile.

Senzaemon knew that Yukihira Mayumi was a student of another school, and knew she would have to leave the Totsuki campus on occasion to do some on-site classes, so she wouldn't be able to help her twin all the time. This is where this document comes into play.

The Headmaster couldn't help but chuckle at that. There was no way in the depths of hell is he letting Yukihira Sōma, this beautiful diamond in the rough, slip away from Totsuki on a stupidly minor technically.

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Sōma served up four bowls of his dish.

"Yukihira's Secret Menu Item #20 (Revised), Seer Fish Rice Ball Chazuke!" Sōma said happily before adding with a smile "It's usually made with salmon, but today I'm trying seer fish instead. Dig in, everyone!"

Isshiki, Shun, Ryoko, and Yuki looked at the bowls of rice balls with seer fish and some kind of tea. It looked pretty rough, it looked and smelt delicious and everything was cooked right, but it looked rough. This pretty much proved that Sōma really was blind.

"Ano, what did you pour over this dish?" Ryoko asked the other redhead as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

Sōma happily answered "Seaweed Tea. The soft saltiness and rich flavour are perfect for rounding out a meal." Yuki rubbed her stomach and said "Gawd! It smells soo good, you can't help but get hungry!"

"Everything looks like it's been cooked properly..." Shun muttered.

Isshiki looked at the dish and thought 'This looks like nothing more than plain old chazuke. This is a dish that you can find in a common eatery... Due to Sōma's blindness, this dish doesn't look all that appealing, but then again, food is meant to be eaten so it's all about the taste and texture.'

All four Polaris students took a bit of the dish.

Holy Hell! This dish was more than Delicious!

"Wow! The seer fish is really juicy! But even better, the skin is crispy! It's like every bite is overflowing with savoury flavour!" Yuki stated in surprise.

With a flushed face, Ryoko said "Simply grilling it would never give the skin this crispiness. How'd you do it Sōma?"

"Poêlé. You cooked this fish using the Poêlé technique!" Isshiki stated.

Sōma smirked, winked, and said "Yup! Learned it from my dad. He said it's the best way to cook up a fish with nice, crispy skin." Isshiki asked if the blind teen's dad trained in French cooking. "Not really. Pops cooked in in a lot of different countries before opening the diner," Sōma said happily.

Isshiki stirred the rice in the seaweed tea and thought 'Interesting combination, one that no one has ever thought of! The pure white rice... Almost looks like little gleaming flakes of snows... The dark seer fish pushes its way up proudly through all that white... Like the vitality of Spring itself! With this one simple dish... He has portrayed the moment of Spring's beginning!'

All four practically wolfed down the bowl.

Sōma took off his bandanna and said: "Happy to serve!"

With tears of happiness in his eyes, Isshiki said: "What an exquisitely beautiful snowmelt, Sōma."

The blind redhead scratched his cheek and said "Your Spring breeze wasn't bad either senpai. It was so fresh, I could feel it."

Isshiki took Sōma's hand, shook it, and said "Thanks for the great match."

"Yar welcome," the blind teen said with a smile.

Mayu groggily woke up to her twin shaking hands with the upperclassman that had his apron, the only thing he was wearing, sliding off his body. The short-haired brunette turned red and shouted: "GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY BROTHER YOU NAKED PERVERT!"

Everyone in the dorm woke up to that.

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As the group left the room to head back to their respective rooms, they wondered why Isshiki-senpai started the cook-off.

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The blind redhead was cleaning off his kitchen knife when Isshiki said happily "Sōma, with this welcome party, you and your sister are now official members of Polaris. So if either of you have any questions, feel free to ask anyone here."

"Okay then," Sōma said before asking "Who's the current First Seat?"

That took Isshiki by surprise. The near-naked upperclassman smiled and said "Right, you're going to "Take the Top Spot" here, aren't you."

"Yup, I'm planning on showing the entire world that it doesn't matter if you have a disability or not, anything is possible when you set your mind on something and ignore all of the so-called "limitations" people throw at you in life," Sōma said with a serious look on his face then added with a smirk "Our match ended in a tie, but... If I beat you in a Shokugeki, does that make me the Seventh Seat?"

Isshiki smirked and jumped up and said cheerfully "Amazing! What awesome ambition, Sōma! I'm moved! So totally moved! I tell you! All Polaris residents should have that kind of drive!" Sōma was a bit taken back by the upperclassman's sudden cheeriness.

"But I think I'll pass on the rematch, it's late. We should both get some sleep," Isshiki said with that smile still on his face. Sōma yawned. Yeah, it was a bit late and they needed their sleep for classes that start in a few hours.

"Well, then, night senpai," the blind student said as he took his cane and headed out of the room.

Isshiki kept that smile on his face when Sōma left the room and thought 'With that cooking of yours... you really will change the world of cooking; however, *now Isshiki had a serious look on his face* you still have a lot of challenges ahead of you, most are people who lack the understanding of your goals.' The upperclassman couldn't help but think that those individuals are the ones who are actually blind.

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The next morning...

Erina won her Shokugeki with the captain of the Chankonabe Society, easily.

The heiress felt that that club was not necessary for "Her" Totsuki, so she did away with it.

Her servants were congratulating/complimenting her on another perfect Shokugeki. All was perfect in Erina's life when Hisako ran up to her telling her that Yukihira Sōma got the highest possible marks in Chapelle-sensei's class.

"NANI!? Are you sure!?" the honey blond shouted.

The pinkette nodded frantically and said, "Unfortunately, I'm completely sure..." Erina scowled and stated "It had to be out of pity, it just had to. There's no way a second-rate cook, and a blind one at that, could get nothing more than an "E" in Chapelle-sensei's class."

"I'm quite disappointed in you right now, Nariki-san."

Erina and Hisako turned to see Chapelle Roland, the Chef that Never Smiles, standing a couple of paces away from the two.

"Chapelle-sensei!" the two girls gasped out. It was weird seeing him outside the classroom.

With a stern look on his face, Chapelle stated "Judging a person's potential by one's background and disability. Tisk, tisk. I believe YOU were the one who passed him during the Transfer Exams?"

Erina quickly stated with a pout "He simply made a lucky dish, that's all, nothing more."

Chapelle raised a brow and said "Was it really? I highly doubt that. When I tasted the Boelif Bourguignon he made with Tadokoro-san, I couldn't help but smile." The strict teacher cracked a grin at that last sentence. The strictest teacher was smiling just from the memory of the dish!

Chapelle started walking away from the two girls and said "The Headmaster was right about that boy. He's a diamond, just like you Nakiri-san."

Hisako and Erina blinked in confusion.

No one was more of a diamond then Nakiri Erina.

Right?

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Gale-Dragon: I hope everyone's enjoying this story so far.