Shokugeki no Sōma: Nashi Saito de Chīfu

by Gale-Dragon

Ever since he picked up a kitchen knife at age three, Sōma knew he wanted to be a chef. For twelve years, he cooked in the kitchen of his family diner. But he doesn't cook like you or me. No, he has his own cooking style, and that style will change the world of cooking forever. After all, Sōma's blind.

13. 12: The Calm Before the Storm

Quick note: As you are aware, I left a temporary chapter in honour of Stan Lee, who passed away on 11/12/18. And a lot of readers left comments expressing their griefs over his death. So a lot of the reviews posted for ch 12 is for that temp chapter. Also, I'm sorry for the late update.

~}i{~

"Talking"

'Thinking'

(Author making a quick comment)

~}i{~

Shokugeki no Sōma Nashi Saito de Chīfu. Chapter 12: The Calm Before the Storm.

~}i{~

"Mayu!" Sōma exclaimed as he started heading towards the main hall. The blind redhead then called out, "Mayu! What's wrong?!" The others followed suit. After all, they've never heard Mayu scream before. Squeaking because of being surprised by Isshiki-senpai's state of undress for the first time, yes, but not screaming.

So the question was what would make Yukihira Mayu scream?

That was when the sounds of heavy footsteps were heard, and from the pacing of the steps, the person was running. Pounding steps raced down the stairs. Everyone who saw this person running were shocked to see him.

It was Mimasaka Subaru, with a petrified look of terror plastered on his face.

"Hm? Why's he here?" Sōma asked when he heard his dorm mates exclaimed the name. With this, Subaru hid behind the Daimidō-san, much to the surprise and confusion of the other Totsuki students.

That was when there was a sound of metal being dragged on the wooden flooring. Everyone turned to the stairs, where it seemed like the sound was coming from. Mayu came into everyone's view with a metal bat in hand, letting the business end drag on the ground. The bat then thunked each time it hit the steps.

"Uh-oh, I hear the bat..." Sōma stated, recognizing that sound. He turned an ear towards where he heard Mimasaka scurry to and asked in a serious tone, "What were you doing in Mayu's room and how'd you get in?"

Mimasaka blinked in confusion before saying, "Wait? That was your sister's room? Not yours? But you were carrying the key I copied..."

Sōma's ears perked when he asked, "Did the key have a star-shaped keychain attached to it?"

Mimasaka blinked a few times and said, "Yeah, it did a five-pointed star. Why?"

Sōma sighed when he heard Mayu dragged the bat against the ground as she walked over to the group, and then said, "That was the key to Mayu's room. You must've taken that one by mistake, however, you took it. I usually hold on to her room key when she has to be on her school's campus, so she doesn't lose it."

Ah! That explains it...

That was when Sōma then asked the stalking copycat what he was doing here. Mimasaka finally realized that Akira and Ryō were in the dorm as well before saying, "I just came by to give ya some news. I guess Hayama and Kurokiba can hear this too."

Sōma then said pretty casually, " 'Kay. Hang on. I'll go pick out some tea," as he turns towards the kitchen. The blind redhead then stated, "I also got some leftover beef stew if you want any, Mimasaka-kun."

Mimasaka was a bit taken back by this gestor and realized that he hasn't eaten dinner yet, so he told the blind redhead that he'll have some. But on the other end of the spectrum, Yuuki and Ikumi were shouting "What are you doing! He's up to no good!" at Sōma.

The blind redhead turned an ear towards the two female teens and said, "You may be right, but he's still a guest here and Pop always says it's polite to greet guests with a drink and a snack. *Takes a few steps towards the kitchen before stopping* Ah, right! Akira, Ryō, mind giving me a hand with the tea? I still haven't figured out how to set the new coffee maker for tea yet, and I don't think asking Mayu to help would be a good idea at the moment."

Akira and Ryō glanced at the female Yukihira twin as she thumped the business end of her metal bat on her left hand in a threatening matter as she glared at Mimasaka, a black aura surrounded her form like a menacing cloak. The copycat in question was keeping his distance from her because of that killing aura. Sōma might have a point about Mayu at the moment... So, the two followed the blind redhead into the kitchen.

}{

After the table was set for four, they sat at the table while everyone else stood outside the main doorway to the dining room to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Akira poured the leftover stew for Mimasaka, Ryō, Sōma, and himself. From what the individuals in the hallway could see, the whitette and the seafood specialist seemed to be a little uneasy for some reason.

"So anyway, the semi-final brackets got set. You hear 'em yet?" Mimasaka asked the trio before taking a spoonful of the stew.

Ryō shook his head while Sōma stated, "Nope." Akira only stared at the copycat with a suspicious look on his face as he spooned a mouthful of stew into his mouth.

With that, Mimasaka said, "The two clashes are gonna be between Kurokiba and Hayama. Then me and you, Yukihira." Both Ryō and Akira narrowed their eyes at the copycat at this statement. Mimasaka continued with his news, "The theme for both is a Western-style entrée."

Somehow, the Polaris dorm members weren't all That surprised with the lineup.

"Huh. You came all the way out here just to tell us that?" Sōma asked between bites.

Mimasaka glanced at Ryō and Akira before saying, "Well, I kinda came here to tell you about it, Yukihira. I wasn't expecting them to be here with you, to be honest."

"Like how you didn't expect to be in Mayu-chan's room earlier," Ryō asked in his usual lackadaisical tone before shoving a spoonful of the beef stew in his mouth.

That was when the black killer aura could be felt from the doorway. It was pretty obvious who that was coming from…

"The computer monitors should've been a hint that you weren't in my room," Sōma stated, not all surprised with the menacing feeling coming from the doorway.

Mimasaka knew the blind redhead was right about that. Yes, he saw the computer monitors, and yes, he did think it was a little strange that the blind redhead had those in his room, but he thought those monitors were necessary for a dictating program that the older Yukihira had on his computer, or maybe that he shared it with his sister on occasions when she needed to use them for some reason. Perhaps the copycat needed to do a little more research about technology for the blind…

"I'll, uh, keep that in mind for the future," Mimasaka said in a slightly nervous tone. He didn't want to go through that whole thing again, the younger Yukihira twin was incredibly frightening when angered. The copycat needed to tread carefully around her. Now trying to change the topic back on the semi-finals, Mimasaka said, "Anyway, I'm sure you already have an idea why I'm here, so I'll just say it. Let's have a Shokugeki. You've got a carving knife that you use a whole lot. If I win, I want that. Looks like a quality one too. In fact, it's so high-end I gotta wonder were a diner brat like you got it."

Sōma's ears perked at that statement and said, "That's pretty rude, ya'know."

"Oh? How so?" Mimasaka asked in an almost humorous tone.

"The knife was a birthday gift from the Trinity," Sōma stated as he dipped his spoon in his bowl. Mimasaka raised a brow at that.

Ryō turned to the blind redhead and said, "Oh yeah, that forgetful chicken girl mentioned that once or twice over the summer." He then shoved a spoonful of the beef stew into his mouth.

"Honestly, Ryō, you really shouldn't call someone forgetful if you can't even remember their names," Akira stated as he spooned another mouthful of the stew. The seafood specialist gave the spice master a lackadaisical look that might have been a glare, or an 'oh yeah' look. Either or, it was a bit hard to tell with Ryō sometimes.

"Yup," Sōma said cheerfully, before adding happily, "They made that carving knife from scratch just for me."

Ryō spat the stew out in shock, it hit Akira right in the face (since he was sitting across from the raven-haired teen). Mimasaka nearly choked on what he had in his mouth since he didn't expect the knife to be homemade.

"Wait?! Those three MADE your knife?" Ryō nearly shouted, before realizing that Akira was glaring at him as the stew dripped down his face and. The lackadaisical teen apologized for that.

Akira used a napkin to wipe the stew off his face as he asked Sōma calmly, "You wouldn't mind explaining that a little better? I know Kon-kun likes putting things together, but how were Ishi-kun and Ki-kun involved?"

Sōma happily explained that part, "Ki researched knifemaking while Ishi found all the proper material for the knife. Kon, of course, put it all together."

"So they worked together to make you that knife," Ryō stated, sitting back down.

After wiping all the stew off his face, Akira stated, "It makes sense though. With Ki-kun's memory, researching would be his specially. And from what we learned over the summer, Ishi-kun would know what would be good for a structure of a knife."

Sōma nodded and stated, "They put a lot of thought and effort into that knife. Pops got some complementary knives for me to go with that carving knife, that was kinda his way of saying that I can cook in the kitchen without supervision. *Smiles a bit* That was a pretty big day for me, ya'know."

Mimasaka smirked when he said, "So that carving knife does means a lot to you." Ryo and Akira didn't like that one bit.

"Duh, that's the reason why I said that your comment about it before was rude," Sōma stated in a pretty mellow tone, despite the topic of the conversation.

"How about we do this," Mimasaka stated, getting the blind redhead's attention. The Copycat then continued, "if I win, I get that Carving Knife, but if you win. *Places a briefcase on the table and opens it*. I'll give you Aldini Takumi's Mezzaluna." Sitting within the suitcase was the object in question.

During this, Mimasaka was thinking, 'I know what gets you mad, Yukihira. You can't stand it when your friends are unfairly insulted. You'll do anything you can to get this Mezzaluna back. I know you will.' He then said out loud, "Man, that poor half-breed! Failing like a sucker before he had his chance for his big rematch with you. His pride and future as a chef have to be shot!" Mimasaka then thought, 'Well? Get mad. Get angry for me! I'm insulting your precious friend, right at your face!'

"You know we're inside, right, so you don't need to shout," Sōma said calmly, despite the situation. This took Mimaska off-guard. The blind redhead then said, "I don't know where you got the idea that something like your match will ever break Takumi-kun. He's not a weak-willed individual, ya'know. But, yeah, it does kinda suck that he wasn't able to make it to the semi-finals and yeah, I was looking forward to a rematch with him." Sōma then took a sip of water before saying, "Oh, and one more thing. I don't feel angry at you for what you did to Takumi-kun as I am at how you're wasting your talent, Mimasaka-kun."

All Mimaska could get out was, "What?" Did the blind redhead know something?

Sōma took a bite of the stew before saying, "I'll do the Shokugeki, but I want more than just that one Mezzaluna. I want all the other knives that you've stolen too. All 99 of them."

This both shocked and dumbfounded nearly everyone in the dorm.

"Oi, Sōma..." Ryō vocalized but didn't add any more to that. Akira now had a really worried look on his face.

'What's going on here? What the hell does he want with all those?' Mimasaka thought to himself before standing up while shouting at the blind redhead, "You've gotta be kidding me! No way that's a fair exchange! If you want all 100 knives your offer has to be just as big!" The copycat just couldn't understand how they got on this topic, and the next thing that bugged him was the fact that Sōma wasn't reacting the way he had expected.

Sōma placed his spoon down on the plate and stated, "Okay. If I lose, I'll quit Totsuki."

An eerily shocking silence fell throughout the Polaris Dorm at the very moment these words left the blind redhead's mouth.

"W-what?!" was all Mimasaka could get out, shock still had its grip on him.

"You heard me. If I lose the Shokugeki, I'll leave Totsuki," Sōma said, almost as if he was just talking about the weather for the next day or something along that line. The blind redhead took a sip of water before saying, "You beat me, and I'll leave Totsuki and never return. Heck, I'll even forgo anything that I got from Totsuki, that includes the Elites working for me back at the Diner. That seems big enough?"

Ikumi, Yuuki, Megumi, Daigo, and Shōji burst into the room as the meat master shouted, "YUKIHIRA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?!"

"Were you guys eavesdropping on us?" Ryō asked nonchalantly as he took a bite of the stew. Akira gave the seafood specialist a look that practically screamed 'of course they were.'

"Yukihira..." Mimasaka stated, getting the blind redhead's attention once more, before saying with a narrow glare, "Shokugeki rules are as good as law. You realize you won't be able to laugh this off as a joke if you lose, right?"

"I'm aware," Sōma stated as he closed his unseeing eyes, before opening them and saying, "If you're okay with the conditions, let's do it."

Mimasaka couldn't help but think in confusion, 'What the hell is this guy thinking?! He was there! He heard everything that happened in my match with Aldini! I know that his dormmates told him how I perfectly I anticipated and countered everything my opponent did. How can he make that offer so easily?! Especially since he's blind?!'

That was when Sōma said, "Oh yeah! Mimasaka-kun, let me save you some effort." This again caught the copycat by surprise while snapping him out of his thoughts. In an almost casual tone, the blind redhead said, "The theme is some kind of western Entree, right? So I'll be making *points down at the beef stew* this."

To put it simply, the only ones in the immediate area were NOT paralyzed with utter shock were Mayu, Ryō, and Akira. The younger Yukihira twin just rolled her eyes as if to say, 'Saw this coming'. The seafood specialist rubbed the back on his neck nervously. The spice master was fidgety tapping his nails on the table in a nonsensical pattern.

Sōma then cheerfully added, "Don't worry, I'll be sprucing it up a bit for our match. Let's see~. It'll definitely be beef stew and I was thinking abo-"

Ikumi then slapped a hand across the blind redhead's mouth and shouted, "YOU IDIOT! DON'T BLABBER EVERYTHING!" She then turned her attention to Ryō and Akira and snapped, "DID YOU TWO KNOW THAT HE WAS GOING TO DO THIS?!"

"You think we could've stopped him even if we knew?" Ryō stated with his fingers in his ears. To which Akira nodded as he removed his hands from his ears. Mayu was pretty much use to this kind of thing.

}{ About One Minute Later }{

Yuuki and Ikumi were currently scolding Sōma about giving his recipe away so easily like that, and they were scolding Akira and Ryō for letting the blind redhead reveal what he was planning.

Sōma retorted casually, "He's just gonna find out anyway, why not just tell him?"

Mimasaka wasn't completely sure what was going on when he thought, 'Is this a bluff? Is he lying to me about what he's making now so that he can show up to the match with something completely different?' The copycat then stood up and stated, "I dunno. You could be trying to trick me. Either way, I'm gonna research exactly what you're making down to the last detail. Telling me some random dish now isn't gonna help you."

Sōma waved a hand and said casually, "Nah, that wasn't random. I mean it. Besides, I don't lie about food. So we're going to have a beef stew competition, eh?" The blind redhead chuckled a bit at what he said, before turning an ear to where he heard Ryō and Akira and said, "Speaking of "Lie", did either of you figure out who the "Liar" of the Trinity is?"

"Are you bringing that up now?" Akira asked as he folded his arms as he raised a brow at the blind redhead.

Sōma chuckled again and stated, "It's not like that one's a compulsive liar. Besides, if you know what's being said, then you know it's a lie."

Ryō and Akira glanced at each other, not sure if they should believe that or not.

When the trio was asked what they were talking about, Sōma answered by saying, "The Trinity is a trio of friends that come by the Diner. Their names are Hikaru Ishi, Soulkin Ki, and Forest Kon. They get along well with each other and it's pretty rare to see them apart. *Holds up his right index finger* One of them likes to test the intelligence of others by telling relatively easy to find out lies. I know who it is, but I wanna know if anyone else from Totsuki figured out who the Liar of the three is. So far, no one's figured it out."

Akira sighed and stated as he glanced at the Polaris members, "The only clues we were given were "Ki-kun can never lie when it comes to past events, Kon-kun will always answer questions that are asked, and Ishi-kun can't answer if you ask incorrectly."

"The last one doesn't help much," Ryō pointed out as he folded his arms. And Akira agreed with that statement when the seafood specialist added, "None of those hints told us anything we didn't already know."

"Oh? I think I get the hints," Mimasaka stated with a hand to his chin. Everyone's attention was on him when he then said, "One can't lie about past events, but that doesn't mean he can't lie about present events. Another will always answer questions, but you never said whether he will answer deceptively or honestly. And the last one can't answer if asked incorrectly sounds like he doesn't pay attention unless addressed, so I guess that means you have to make you say his name when talking to him."

Sōma was impressed by that when he said, "Wow, completely right on the first, half-right on the second, but completely wrong on the last." Ryō and Akira agreed when the blind redhead mentioned the part about Ishi.

The only thing Mimasaka did was raised a brow when he asked, "Oh, what did I get wrong?"

That was when Ryō said, "Well for one, Kon-kun's a girl, not a guy."

The copycat blinked a few times at this new information. "But... You two *points to Akira and Ryō* refer to her as Kon-"Kun", rather than Kon-"Chan". Why?" Mimasaka asked in a bit of a confused tone.

Sōma answered by saying, "Kon's part Russian, since her father is half-Russian, and from what I was told, there's a word in Russian that's pronounced кончан (sounds like konshan), it means 'The End'. I can understand how that word can be mixed up with Kon-chan, they do sound pretty similar. So Kon asks people not to use the -chan honorific to her nickname, so everyone uses -kun instead."

Ryō then added, "Alice kinda slides by on that because she calls Kon-kun, Konny-chan. It doesn't sound like that Russian word anymore... Somewhat."

Akira added, "Enough for there to be a verbal difference. Although, hearing "Konny-chan" for the first time did confuse Kon-kun. Since it does sound a bit like Kon-niichan (1). Thank goodness Alice-chan explained the reason for that nickname." That made a bit of sense.

"I guess that makes sense... And as much as I want to know how I was wrong on that last one, or continue this 'interesting' conversation, I would like to get back on the topic of our Shokugeki," Mimasaka stated, realizing that they went on a tangent.

"Ah, sorry, that was pretty much my fault," Sōma stated, rubbing the back of his head apologetically.

~}i{ The Next Morning (Don't worry Mayu got the duplicate key from Mimasaka) }i{~

With a toothbrush in his mouth, Sōma went over what he needed to do. He needed to think up a couple of trial beef stew recipes. He could ask Ikumi about the various cuts of beef, but she was currently pissed at him. Then again… He was putting his stay at Totsuki on the line for the Shokugeki, and Ikumi was less than thrilled about that. Sōma couldn't help but smile at the major change in the meat master's interest with him attending Totsuki.

Sōma just finished brushing his teeth when he heard the doorbell ring. "Who the heck could that be at this hour?" The blind redhead wondered as he grabbed the cane leaning against the bathroom sink. Mayu met up with her twin brother as headed towards the front door. Sōma couldn't help but mention to his sister, "Hardly anybody ever comes out to Polaris and the other residents are in class, so I wonder who it could be."

Mayu shrugged and stated, "Well, we're gonna find out soon enough."

The front door to the Polaris dorm opened, revealing a boy that looked like he was in junior high with short dark navy hair, grey eyes, and wearing the junior high variation of the Totsuki uniform. This boy had a camera hanging around his neck, a long-range lens dangling from his side, and something that looked like a voice recorder. Mayu was immediately suspicious of him.

Sōma vocalized a, "Yes, who is it?" As he took a step into the doorway.

The boy's eyes sparkled in amazement when he said, "Yukihira-senpai! Oh my gosh! You're really him!"

In approximately 3.2 seconds, Mayu had the boy on the ground in an arm-lock. She then started interrogating him, much to Sōma's confusion, "Alright, I know Mimasaka-kun sent you little spy, so who are you?"

The boy replied in an understandably panicked tone, "Wha! Wha! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I'm not a spy! I'm with the journalism club! My name is Sotsuda Mitsuru! I'm a third-year in Totsuki's Junior High Division! I'm just delivering today's morning edition!"

Mayu released Sotsuda. The boy shakily handed a newspaper to the younger Yukihira twin as the older stated, "I didn't know Totsuki had a journalism club." Mayu looked at the newspaper name and read it out loud for her brother, "The Totsuki Spotlight?"

Sotsuda was the one to explain the newspaper, "The Totsuki Spotlight is the Totsuki Institute school newspaper published, almost, daily. It covers all events of interest on and around the school campus. From feature stories on major events like the Autumn Elections and exclusive interviews with star chefs, down to quick blurbs on fun topics and columns, with helpful everyday tips. The Spotlight covers a wide range of topics that any Totsuki student or faculty member would want to know! It's an old and venerable publication that's been around since the dawn of the Institute!"

"Really? Wow, I didn't know Totsuki had its own paper," Sōma told Mayu, who in turn replied, "Neither did I."

Mayu then noticed that feature article on the newspaper. Grand gourmet Festival Shocker! A Third Shokugeki! Mimasaka Subaru vs Yukihira Sōma. She couldn't help but vocalize, "Oi, how did your little club know about the Shokugeki already? It was made just last night."

Sotsuda only squeaked in response.

~}i{ Approximately 10 Minutes Later, on the Campus }i{~

Nearly every single student had a newspaper article in their hands, particularly the one about the upcoming Autumn Election Shokugeki. There was even an article about it pinned up on all of the oversized billboards that were on campus, ten total. Mayu did comment on why the school needed to have all those billboards on campus when two or three would've been sufficient.

The main article read as such. For the first time in history, a third Shokugeki will take place during the same Autumn Election tournament. This time during the match between Mimasaka Subaru and Yukihira Sōma. Mimasaka Subaru has already displayed impeccable skills, defeating Italian-Christine specialist, Aldini Takumi in a closely fought quarterfinal round. Most critics believe that Yukihira Sōma will not be able to avoid defeat.

Mayu had some less than favourable words for this article. Sōma scolded her for using a certain curse word in her anger in front of the junior high student. (Trying to keep the rating T). Mayu then growled at Sotsuda when she said, "You still didn't answer my question, how the hell did your little club know about the Shokugeki?"

Sotsuda trembled when he said, "Th-the Spotlight's information-gathering network is really impressive..." But his mood improved a lot when he said cheerfully, "But, it's a full front-page spread! Everyone in the whole Institute is talking about you, senpai!"

Mayu rolled her eyes and glanced at the student body when she scoffed out an, "Oh, I'm sure they're talking about him alright, pretty sure it's nothing favourable. Bunch of bigots." She was getting annoyed with how 90% of the student body of Totsuki were still treating her brother. He has proved himself capable as a chef time and time again, despite his "Disability", and yet… It was starting to seem like the only ones in Tostuki who could be labelled as "incapable" are the ones who can't seem to see past the disabilities of others.

Sotsuda gulped a bit, took a deep breath, and then said, "Umm, Yukihira-senpai?" Sōma turned an ear to the junior high student in response. Sotsuda then asked in a pretty nervous tone, "I would like to beg a really big favour of you. For the next week, will you please let me do a total-coverage feature on you?!"

That was when both Yukihira Twins stated in both the same dumbfounded tone at the same time, "Come again?"

Sotsuda then said in a rather excited tone, "I was so impressed when I first saw you during the Elections. Especially your quarterfinal match with Alice-senpai. She was the projected winner, but you didn't look intimidated at all. And you be her easily! All the articles in the Spotlight are saying you're likely to lose to Mimasaka-senpai, but I don't believe that at all! They're wrong about you senpai! You have skills despite being completely disabled and work in a small dinky diner! I know that you deserve to be taken seriously!"

To the Yukihira Twins, it seemed like the junior high student was trying to say that he was trying to keep an open mind but it sounded like he didn't know how to say it in a positive view... Neither of the twins were sure if this was naïvely sweet or not.

Sotsuda then continued with a slight stutter, "Um, I-I came here on my own. I'm still just a junior high kid on the bottom rung of the club, so no one asks me to do any articles. But if I get to do an exclusive special feature on someone as big as you, Senpai... Then I'm sure everyone will come to respect me as a real Newsie!"

'This is a cooking school!' both Mayu and Sōma couldn't help but think, at the same time coincidentally.

Sotsuda then asked with a lot of vigour, "I still don't know if I'll even be given page base for my article, but I really, really, really want to follow you, Senpai! I promise I'll try my hardest to write the best article I can! So please let me interview you, Yukihira-senpai!"

"Nope," Sōma stated almost immediately as both he and Mayu started walking away from the junior high student. Besides, classes were going to be starting in a bit and Mayu had to be online for hers.

~}i{~

As the semi-finalist were attending their classes and thinking up what they should make for their respective matches, Isshiki noticed something strange. Well, besides him attending his classes for once.

Kinokuni Nene seemed... Unusually distracted.

Normally, she would try to get the 7th Seat to take the class seriously and end up secretly competing with him to make a better dish for the class, to which Isshiki Satoshi tend to either ignore or let her win. But today, she didn't even notice that he was even in the class or even what was being taught... All she'd been doing the entire class was kneading dough. The teacher didn't seem to call this out, but to Isshiki this was just off...

After the class was officially over, Isshiki walked over to the glasses-wearing girl and asked, "Nene, are you feeling okay?"

That was when Kinokuni finally noticed him there. She adjusted her glasses and stated seriously, "So, you're actually in class. Do try to take it seriously or else you'll fail."

Isshiki raised a brow at this, then he said without his usual smile, "Nene... I've been here the whole time, and class ended a minute ago..." This was something that the laid-back teen never expected to tell the soba expert.

This made the former 6th Seat's head shot around the classroom. After looking around the empty room with widen eyes, Kinokuni finally realized that she and the 7th Seat were the only ones still in the classroom.

Isshiki folded his arms and said seriously, "I never thought you of all people would space out during class. *Raises a brow*. What on earth could occupy Your mind enough to distract you from a task?"

Nene was unusually quiet. She then stared at the dough she'd been kneading with a look on her face that made it seem like she would cry at any moment.

There was no way Isshiki could miss that.

In a tone that gave the feeling of being both caring and serious at the same time, Isshiki then asked, "Nene... Does it have anything to do with what happened at Shokujidokoro Yukihira that got you kicked off the Elite 10?"

This caused Nene's eyes to widen and her hands to shake.

Isshiki placed a hand on Kinokuni's shoulder and asked in that same caring and stern tone, "Nene… What did you and the others do?" The laid-back 2nd-year was being serious. Something happened at the diner that made his blind, upbeat dorm mate become sour when it was brought up, and it was close to bringing the stern Soba master to tears upon asking about it. This was NOT acceptable to Isshiki Satoshi, 7th Seat of Totsuki's Elite 10. He needed to know. He needed, no, he wanted, to help his dorm mate and childhood friend. "Please, tell me, Nene. I want to help," Isshiki said softly, trying to get the former Elite to talk to him as a friend.

The thing Isshiki Satoshi never expected to happen, actually happened.

Kinokuni Nene buried her face into Isshiki's chest and started crying.

It took a few seconds for Satoshi to register what had just happened before he wrapped his arms around the Soba master and gently rubbed her back. "Let it out, Nene, let it out..." Satoshi gently told the weeping girl as he continued to rub her back. The 7th Seat then said softly, "You can tell me once you've let it all out."

That was when Nene whimpered out through the tears, "H-he- *hic* h-he *hic* cou-could've d-died *hic* b-because *hic* of us *hic*!"

Satoshi thought carefully about what his crying friend meant by that. 'Is that what happened at your diner, Yukihira-kun?' was all the 7th Seat could think when he realized what was bring implied as he continued to hold Nene in his arms.

~}i{~

Chapelle-sensei was starting to lose his patience with his class, or at least the part of the class that was talking while he was trying to go over his lecture about the different cooking styles in France that are used for cooking meat. He didn't care what the students did or talk about during their free time, but they were in the middle of HIS class while he was trying to TEACH.

At the moment, Chapelle-sensei had stopped his lecture and was facing his students, arms folded with a stern disapproving look on his face. He had done this to see if any of the students were even paying attention. So far, he could only two students of the 35 students in the lecture hall looking worried because of the teacher's actions. And those two seemed to grow more worried every second the rest of the class continued to chatter.

"Did you read this morning's Spotlight?"

"Yeah, I did! Looks like this year semifinals are gonna be big."

"That blind idiot made a real bold statement saying he'll leave Totsuki if he loses."

"What, is he really that stupid? Pfft! What a dumb move."

"But hey, it'll be loads of fun to watch."

Chapelle was officially out of patience. Gossiping in HIS class, during HIS lesson? Not to mention that they were bad-mouthing a fellow student, which was one of Chapelle's biggest pet peeves.

"Excuse me, Chapelle-sensei?" Sōma said aloud as he raised a hand in the air, getting the teacher's attention before adding, "Are we taking a break? You stopped with your lecture, just as you were going over using lemons and herbs." It seems that three students were paying attention to the lecture.

This got the class's attention pretty quickly as all of their eyes shot to the front of the lecture hall, where the teacher stood.

Chapelle narrowed his eyes at the class before saying, "Ahh, nice to know that at least a few of you apprentices were paying attention to what was being taught. Perhaps a ten-page essay on French cuisine will help the chatterboxes with their willingness to learn, due tomorrow."

The class gulped at that.

~}i{ After Class }i{~

Since Megumi and Sōma were two of the three who paying attention in class, they were exempt from writing the essay.

As Megumi and Sōma were heading out, the country girl said, "Since it's almost lunchtime, how about we head on over to the cafeteria to grab a bite?"

Sōma smiled as he replied, before opening the sliding door to the classroom, "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll go start-" The blind redhead nearly collide with the person standing right in front of the other side of the door. "Whoa! Sorry! But you really should be standing right in front of the door, especially when class is being let out," Sōma apologized as he steadied himself.

From what Megumi could see, Sotsuda was standing in front of her and Sōma holding a bento box wrapped in a polka-dotted handkerchief, that he somehow managed to keep ahold of and survive the collision.

Sotsuda then said rather loudly in a slightly nervous tone, "Um, Yukihira-senpai! I, uh... I made a bento lunch for you! *Holds out the bento*. I-I hope you like it!"

Some of the nearby female student started whispering, "What?" "Do those two have that kind of relationship?" "Isn't he a little young to be in a relationship?"

After a few seconds, Sōma asked in a rather awkward tone with a raised brow, "Umm, can I ask your name first?" The blind redhead knew he heard this voice recently, but he couldn't quite remember the name. While Sōma does have a good food memory, it does take him a while to put names to voices.

The Jr High student replied in a slightly trembling tone, a bit crestfallen that the blind redhead didn't remember him, "Umm, I'm Sotsuda Mitsuru... We met earlier today."

That sparked a memory for Sōma when he said, "Oh, you're the reporter kid, right?"

Sotsuda smiled a bit as he said, "Yes, that's me!"

Sōma nodded before saying a little too bluntly, "Sorry. But I can't accept that bento."

"He got rejected!" The nearby girls said at once. Sotsuda officially looked disheartened.

Sōma then said as he was about to head off, "Besides, I'm about to start making some beef stew practice dishes."

This perked Sotsuda's interest when he vocalized, "Really?!" He quickly opened a notepad, turned the pages until he got to the information he was looking for and said, "Let's see! According to my notes, your schedule for today was, um... Math, English, Western Culinary History I, and a Spanish Cooking Practicum! But since the professor is on a business trip, your afternoon Practicum got turned into a study hall period! That means you have the entire afternoon to work on practice dishes!"

There was a brief and awkward moment of silence before Sōma stated in a tone that was a weird mixture of suspicious and creeped out, "Are you sure you not a spy for Mimasaka-kun? You seem to know my schedule little too well."

Megumi couldn't help but think that the Jr High student was kinda stalking that blind redhead in a way.

Sotsuda then asked excitedly, "Please let me watch for my article and take notes on what you do, Senpai! I promise I'll do whatever I can to help!"

Sōma thought about this for a couple of seconds before saying, "You wanna help, eh? Hmm... Come to think of it, I was gonna go out and pick up some more herbs to use…"

That was when Sotsuda shouted excitedly, "I'll go get them for you right now! I'll be back in a flash. Wait for me right there, Senpai!" With that, the Jr High student was off in a flash.

In a tone that was a mixture of amazement and awkwardness, Megumi said, "Wow. He's sure going fast."

In that same tone, Sōma stated, "No kidding… I can't hear his footsteps anymore… And I haven't even told him what herbs I was going to use. Ah, oh well. I was hoping to find someone to taste test my dishes and give me some objective opinions anyway, so this works out for me in a way." Megumi apologized for not being able to help the blind redhead with that. Sōma gave the country girl a 'no-need-to-worry' waved and told her that there was no need to apologize.

That was when Megumi said in her usual kind tone, "Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with, though. I'm rooting for you. We all are. Good luck, Sōma!"

Sōma thanked her with a smile on his face.

~}i{ A Little While Later }i{~

There are many kitchens inside the school. Most are left open and available for students to practice and study in, outside of class hours. As long as they bring their own ingredients, any student can use them whenever they like.

Sōma had already procured a kitchen, now all that's left to do is cook the beef stew test dishes. The blind redhead quickly explains that beef stew is typically comprised of two major parts, simmered beef, and demi-glace sauce.

Sotsuda quickly noted, "It sounds like it should be really easy, but a good beef stew was actually really hard, right? It's one of the major recipes in all of Western cuisine, after all."

Sōma collapsed his cane when he said, "Yeah, there's a whole lot you can do with beef stew if you decide to specialize in it. The best recipes take tons of time to make. *Places a hand to his chin*. I heard that some big Western restaurants when they make their demi-glace sauce, they let it simmer for two entire weeks."

Sotsuda couldn't help but gloomily think, 'That is really, really long!' He then said out loud, "But-but because you chose beef stew as your recipe for this match is that you have an awful lot of confidence in your beef stew recipe, right? *Quickly pulls out a newspaper from his bag*. It says right here in this article that you serve the beef stew you already made to Mimasaka-senpai yesterday!"

Sōma turned an ear towards the Jr High student and asked in a rather suspicious tone, "And might I ask how your journalism club knew about that?" The blind redhead was starting to wonder if he was a spy for Mimasaka.

Sotsuda quickly explained, "Oh, my club senpai had a scoop interview with Mimasaka-senpai! He told the club everything that went on between the two of you last night."

Sōma couldn't help but comment, still in that suspicious tone, "That's awfully convenient, don't ya think?"

Sotsuda then explained, "Well... They already scheduled an interview meeting with Mimasaka-senpai as soon as the matchups were announced. Everybody expects that he is going to win, so I guess that's why no one from the club wanted to ask you for an interview."

"Cht, assumptions, assumptions, assumptions. How exactly is that supposed to be called journalism? Last time I checked, it takes two sides to make a Shokugeki, ya'know," Sōma stated in a rather sour tone. The blind redhead might not know much about the subject of journalism, but even he was aware that you are supposed to get information from both sides of a story, or Shokugeki in this case, if you wanted to report all the facts, and not just assume one side is right and only get information from that side. Another thing that was kinda peeving Sōma was the fact that he was still getting this kind of disrespect, even though he has proven his skills in the kitchen, which was the only thing that was supposed to matter in Totsuki.

This made Sotsuda flinch a bit before he glanced down at the newspaper in his hands. He re-read the article to himself. Now that the Jr High student thought about it, the article did seem to be a little too one-sided and too opinionated. It was too focused on Mimasaka Subaru, almost as if the whole article was actually on him rather than the Shokugeki match… How skilled he was, how he agreed to the Shokugeki, what his thoughts on the Shokugeki were, and how he plans to win the Shokugeki… Sotsuda only found Sōma's name four times in the entire article. Sotsuda couldn't help but think, 'Yukihira-senpai is right... There are at least two sides to a Shokugeki, and everyone is already making a lot of assumptions about the match… That isn't journalism…'

Sōma took a deep breath to calm himself down. Now wasn't the time to vent anger on stuff that wasn't worth his time, now is the time to start making test dishes.

Starting with a beef rib roast, with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a dusting of flour. Then brown it in some canola oil. This step alone will make the finished dish half more of a fragrant. Once the beef rib is nice and golden brown, it goes into a pot of broth to simmer until it's tender. Sōma vocally told Sotsuda that they had to keep skimming the scum off the top once it's boiling, and told him that he usually uses a wooden spoon to kind of scoop the surface every minute or so.

"Wait? You can't see the scum, so how do you know that there is scum for you to remove?" Sotsuda asked, opening his notebook to write.

Sōma nodded and said, "The scum doesn't have much of a scent and it's easy for the smell of the beef and stew to cover it up if it did, so I learned from my experience back at the diner, and my father and sister helping me out, that if I skim the surface of the broth every minute I can get the scum off even if I can't see it." Sotsuda vigorously took down every word.

Next, for fragrance and to get rid of any unwanted meaty smell, a bouquet garni of parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and tarragon was added to the broth. Fun little cooking tip, if you tie the herbs together in a bouquet garni, it makes it easier to extract them from the broth when you're done cooking and it gives the stew the aroma of the herbs.

Now for the hard part, letting the stew simmer for two whole hours.

~}i{~

"Ooooh! Now it's really looking like a stew!" Sotsuda exclaimed in excitement as he looked into the pot. The colour of the stew was nearly a vivacious shade of garnet, while the beef took on a lovely shade of medium-rare.

Sōma carefully skimmed the surface of the stew as he said, "I'll take your word for it."

Next up was to simmer the stew on a low heat so it won't burn. When the simmering was completed, the next step was running the stew through a strainer, giving it a smoother texture. Once this straining was done, taste it and add a little salt and pepper if needed.

Sotsuda couldn't help but marvel as he watched the blind redhead cook. The Jr High student also noted, 'Amazing. He's been talking the whole time he's been doing this, but his movements are still smooth and confident, even though he can't see. That has to be proof enough of just how often he has done this. Just by using his hands, nose, tongue, and knowledge of the dish, he can talk to me while he cooks. *Takes in the aroma of the stew*. Judging by that smell, Yukihira-senpai's beef stew is going to be really, really good!'

After Sōma carefully poured the beef stew into a small bowl, he added the garnishes.

"Ooooh! That demi-glace sauce looks thick and smells so good! The meat is practically gleaming too!" Sotsuda marvelled in aw. He then started snapping pictures of the beef stew from different angles as he said, "It's all so… So beautiful!"

Sōma raised a brow at the comment, then when he heard the shuttering of a camera multiple times he said, "Umm, you do know I'm about to make a ton of test dishes, right? You don't have to take pictures of each plate."

As he continued to take pictures, Sotsuda said excitedly, "But this is your very first test dish! I have to get a good shot of it!"

Sōma gave a small shrug before saying, "Um, okay, if you say so... I hope you have enough space on that camera's memory card."

When Sotsuda finally stopped taking pictures, he picked up a spoon ready to taste the dish. The spoon easily slid into the beef. In amazement, Sotsuda thought, 'Wow! This is a really thick chunk of meat, but I can easily cut right through it with my spoon!' After blowing on the spoon twice, because it was still piping hot, he shoved the portion into his mouth. The flavour was already filling his mouth. When he started chewing, he noticed how the meat and broth mingle with every bite, practically complementing the rich, thick demi-glace. Speaking of meat, it was so tender that it practically also part in the mouth. Sotsuda swallowed the food before saying with utter joy, "That was amazing! And not only that, most beef stews tend to have a strong acidy undercurrent to their flavour, but yours tastes mellow instead Senpai!"

Sōma smiled and said, "Heh, heh, so you noticed, eh? *Feels around the counter a bit before picking up a nearby jar*. I used a secret ingredient, white miso paste." Sotsuda was completely flabbergasted. The blind redhead then explained, "That acidy flavour common to beef stew comes from the tomatoes in it. But some Japanese people aren't fond of that tang. Adding a dollop of miso paste at the end of the simmering stage takes the edge off. That gives it a mellower flavour that most Japanese people tend to prefer."

In an utterly ecstatic tone, Sotsuda stated, "This is incredible! I've never had beef stew this delicious before! *Takes another spoonful of the wondrous stew*. With something this amazingly tasty, you should be able to beat Mimasaka-senpai easily!"

Sōma placed the jar back on the table and said, "I'm not so sure about that." This caused the Jr High student to pause and turned towards his upperclassman. The blind redhead tapped the pot that holds the rest of the beef stew and said, "This beef stew recipe is the exact one on Yukihira's menu back home. It's the first recipe of mine at my dad ever approved."

Sotsuda couldn't help but wonder, 'Yukihira-senpai's father? Oooh… I wonder what kind of person he is?'

Sōma continued, "This stew is now Yukihira Secret Menu Item #5! It's a seasonal item, though, available only in the fall and winter. It takes so long to make it hard to keep it available on a family restaurant's quick turnaround schedule. Not only that, *closes his unseeing eyes* this is the same dish I serve to Mimasaka-kun last night."

At this very moment, Sotsuda felt like he just lost his soul. The Jr High student then exclaimed, "WHAT?! Why would you do something like that, Senpai? That's like showing him your hand before you've won!"

Leaning against one of the countertops, Sōma said, "Well, Mimasaka-kun had already shown me how he works. Plus, he's just going to find out about it himself anyway. But I guess, in a way, I just wanted to level the playing field." Sotsuda wondered what the blind redhead meant by that. Opening his unseeing eyes, Sōma stated as the memories filled his mind, "I perfected this recipe on my own when I was in my second year of Jr High. I'd worked on it for hours, even skipping sleep, going through a lot of trial and errors until it was done. It was the best recipe I had ever made at the time. Now it's time to figure out how much further this older me can take that recipe, or see if Mimasaka-kun and his tracing technique will still find some way to one-up me. I made the taste of this dish the starting line for both of us!"

Sotsuda was completely stunned when he thought, 'Oh! Now I get it! Given that Mimasaka-senpai copies his opponent's dish beating him after establishing a common starting point would mean that Yukihira-senpai had defeated him in the truest sense of the word! That's why he did it, even if it meant deliberately showing his opponent the results of all the hard work he's done so far!'

With that, the closing statement from Sōma was, "We line up at the starting line, and as of today, it's ready, set, go. From here on out, *cracks his knuckles* this is a brawl between our imaginations!"

'I knew it!' Sotsuda thought, his hands shaking, 'Yukihira-senpai is amazing!' He then muttered, "Oh, right! I ought to write that quote. "A battle between our imaginations" ..."

"On that tracing note, I hope Mimasaka-kun doesn't try cooking blindfolded," Sōma stated as he folded his arms.

Sotsuda blinked in confusion before asking, "What do you mean by that, senpai?"

Sōma tilted his head up when he said, "Well, for one reason, we only have a week until our match, and no matter how good his tracing ability is there is no way he's going to be able to learn to be blind, learn how to cook blind and figure out how to make a better beef stew at once in that short of a time frame."

Sotsuda did vocalize, "That's a very good point, senpai." The Jr High student knew that he couldn't learn that much that fast.

Sōma nodded and continued, "Normally, learning to adapt after the sudden loss of one of the five main senses can easily take months, or even over a year. Trust me when I say that isn't easy, especially when you have to pretty much retrain your brain and muscles. Keep in mind that depending on which sense you have lost will depend on what you have to relearn. Sadly, a lot of people fail to understand, or even try to understand, what it's really like to go through that kind of circumstances."

Sotsuda was... Amazed by that. He's never actually thought about something like that. Having to have to relearn everything you have been taught after the loss of one's senses… Sotsuda flipped his notebook to the last page and wrote down everything Sōma had just said.

~}i{~

Over the next day, Sōma had made test dish after test dish, so far nothing he had made so far had jumped out at him as the one that could beat Mimasaka. Sotsuda, on the other hand, thought every dish the blind redhead made was absolutely delicious.

Sōma leaned against the countertop and thought over this whole ordeal. It was starting to turn out as the blind redhead figured it would. In Sōma's match against Ikumi, he was able to find a way to combat the satisfaction of the A5 meat that she was able to procure, and during his match against Alice, he was able to think of some way to beat her at her own game of using food-science techniques. Both times Sōma's strategy centred on discovering and overcoming his opponents forte. But Mimasaka doesn't have a forte per se.

In a way, it was almost as if Sōma was fighting against his own reflection.

Sotsuda brought up the latest issue of the Spotlight. The main feature in this article was the panel of judges for the semifinals. All of whom were Totsuki alumni and former top-ranked Elite 10 members too. Sōma asked for the names of the alumni, to which Sotsuda happily replied that three of the judges were Dōjima, Mizuhara, and Hinako.

"Oh, the senpai from camp are going to be on the panel of judges? Man, that brings back memories," Sōma said with a smile. But was thinking, 'I wonder if the Headmaster was told that Gin is my Godfather? I mean… It was one thing at the campsite and him keeping a professional distance but a judge for the semifinals… Meh, it might be a little too late to tell him now…'

Suddenly, the sliding door opened.

Sotsuda turned towards the doorway while Sōma's ears perked up.

Mito Ikumi walked into the kitchen with a bag in hand.

"Who is it?" Sōma asked as he turned and ear towards the door.

"It's me," Ikumi stated as she strutted over the blind redhead and practically shove the bag into his chest. She then said, "Listen, I'm not officially backing you or anything… I just came by to give you these. Besides I can't stand watching a lowlife like Mimasaka get his way."

Sōma then said a little too casually, "Aww, thanks Nikumi. That's really nice of ya."

Ikumi then got all flustered and practically shouted, "H-hey! This is just a favour from the Don club! That's all! *Heads towards the door, then shouts over her shoulder*. A-anyway! I will never forgive you if you screw up your whole career by losing to that big jerk! Got it, Yukihira?!" With that, she stormed out.

Sōma couldn't help but comment, "Heh, heh, she can be such a sweet tsundure sometimes." Sotsuda wasn't all that sure that was the reason why the Meat Master was acting like that. The moment Sōma placed the bag on the closest countertop, he heard two sets of footsteps walk into the kitchen.

"Yukihira," was all that was said for the blind redhead to know who it is.

Sōma's ears perked before he asked curiously, "Oh? Takumi-kun, what brings you here?" The blind redhead was a bit surprised that the half-Italian was here.

Takumi placed one hand on his hips while he pointed at Sōma with the other and said, "Listen here, Yukihira, while I absolutely do not accept you wagering your stay here at Totsuki..."

Sōma couldn't help but comment in a casual but somewhat humorous tone, "Yeah, that seems to be the consensus on that."

Takumi turned red when he huffed out, "Well, Why You Think?! The people here who know you better know that you deserve to be here! Seriously?! What were you thinking?! *Calms down and coughs to clear his throat*. That aside, there's no way I'm just going to sit back and let that bastard have his way."

Sōma raised a brow and asked, "So, you wanna help me come up with a beef stew dish that'll beat him?"

Isami then said pretty casually, "Yup, that's pretty much it." Takumi immediately turned red and told/shouted at his younger twin brother that he wanted to tell the blind redhead that. Isami then replied in his good-natured tone, "You should've told me that before, Big Bro." This, in turn, caused Takumi to become even more flustered.

Sōma chuckled a bit before saying, "I'm glad, you're not letting Mimasaka-kun get to you, Takumi, so shall we get cooking?"

Takumi gave a "Hmph," before stating, "You don't need to tell either of us twice."

With that, Sōma and the Aldini Twins were making a new batch of test dishes while Sotsuda happily took notes and pictures.

While letting a stew simmer, Takumi couldn't help but remember the events earlier that day...

~}i{ Flashback }i{~

Both of the Aldinis had just finished breakfast and were currently cleaning up, in their housing unit when they heard a knock on the door. The twin brothers looked at each other from where they stood, and both were giving the other the same look. Neither was expecting company.

Since he was the closest to the door, Isami went to see who it was. The Younger Aldini Twin closed one eye and looked through the peephole of the door. Isami pulled away from the door, blinking in confusion. He then rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things before he looked through the peephole again.

"Isami? Who is it?" Takumi asked as he walked over towards his younger twin brother. The blonde was a little confused by the brunette's reaction.

Isami turned towards his older brother and asked, "Hey, bro, does Nakiri-san's secretary friend live in the area? You know, the pinkette that usually follows her around?"

Takumi folded his arms and thought for a few seconds before saying, "I don't think she does. Why do you ask?"

In his usual casual tone, but with a hint of confusion in his voice this time around, Isami said, "Because Nakiri Erina is standing in front of our door, and I was wondering if she's mistaking our place for her friend's."

Takumi raised a brow at this.

Then there was another knock on the door. The Aldini Twins looked at each other yet again. They might as well let the Nakiri know that this was their place of residence.

Isami unlocked the door before opening it. And, just as the younger Aldini said, Nakiri Erina was standing there. Isami looked at the honey blonde and said, "Um, can we help you?"

"Finally, I was hoping you two would let me in before anyone sees me here," Erina stated as she sauntered into the dorm, brushing some strands of hair out of her face.

Isami was a little confused by this as he watched the honey blonde walked past him. He then closed the door, since it would be a bit weird to just leave it open and the a/c was on.

Takumi held up his palm in a stop motion in front of Erina and stated in a cold tone, "Hold it right there, Nakiri-san. I don't know or want to know how you usually operate, but can't just expect everyone to just bend to your whims. Especially without any explanation. *Fold arms in front of his chest*. You mind explaining why you're here?" The honey blonde was the last person the older Aldini Twin was expecting to drop in on him and his brother, and quite frankly, there's no real reason for her to be here.

Erina folded her arms and asked in her usual tone, "You're good friends with Yukihira Sōma, right?"

Isami was now by his older brother's side.

Now glaring at the honey blonde, Takumi stated, "He is my rival as well as my friend. Which is one reason why I'm not so keen about you being here." He made sure the honey blonde got the hint.

Erina's eyes darted to the side as her face fell a bit when she said, "So, he told you..."

Isami then said, "Well, we did ask Alice-chan if she knew what got you kicked off anything related to the Autumn Elections, and Yukihira-kun told us what happened during the camp." He might not care for the honey blonde, but he'd figure she at least had the right to know.

Now Erina was feeling a bit self-conscience about what she had done.

Takumi then stated, "I'll ask again, why are you here?"

Erina shifted her weight awkwardly before saying, "I... I was... Umm... *Starts fidgeting with her fingers*. I want... Err... I guess..."

Takumi and Isami eyed each other. Neither of the brothers knew what the heck the honey blonde was attempting to say, but it didn't seem like it was easy for her to communicate.

"I NEED YOU TO HELP YUKIHIRA PREPARE FOR HIS MATCH!" Erina shouted, a little too loudly. Thank goodness the other students were in class and the housing units had a reasonable distance between them.

After an entire minute of awkward silence, the Aldini Twins blinked in confusion before saying in unison, "Eh?"

In a rather fidgety manner and tone, Erina finally said, "I want you two to help Yukihira prepare for his match... He has to win..."

That hit a nerve with the older Aldini brother. Takumi couldn't stop himself from snapping angrily, "What The Hell Gives YOU of All People the Right to Say That?!"

"Bro..." was all Isami could get out as Erina took a step back in shock.

Takumi angrily points a finger towards Erina when he snapped, "You've pretty much gone out of your way to try to get Sōma kicked out of Totsuki since day one, and Now you want him to stay?!"

These words hit Erina as if she was stabbed with daggers.

Takumi continued venting, "As far as I'm concerned, it's a little too late to redeem your actions from camp!"

Erina's eyes stared at the ground as Isami tried to calm his brother down a bit.

"I'm not trying to make up for what I've done during the camp…" Erina finally said softly. So softly that the Aldini Twins nearly missed what she said. The honey blond timidly hugged herself when she said, "I'm… Err... I just… *Sighs deeply*. I want to have more of a chance to figure out how to fix what I've done back at the diner..."

The Aldini Twins eyed each other again. From what they can tell by the tone on the honey blonde, she felt bad about what happened, not because she lost her Seat on the Elite.

~}i{ End Flashback }i{~

"Oh?" Isami vocalized as he looked through the bag Ikumi left. "These are top quality beef cuts," the younger Aldini Twin stated as he started pulling the cuts out.

Sōma's ears perked when he said, "That's Nikumi for ya. She just came by and dropped those off."

Takumi looked over his brother's shoulder and said, "Ah, right, we passed her on our way here. *Looks at the slices of beef*. Wow, she packed all kinds of cuts in that. Roasts, fillets, rump cuts... Eesh, how'd she fit all these in that bag?" The blond picked up a curious-looking cut of beef and looks at it for a bit before saying, "She even put this in the bag? That's a bit much."

Isami looked at the odd cut before saying, "Agreed, shame we can't use it in the beef stew. *Looks at all the other beef cuts* Or any of these."

"Mind telling me what kinda cuts you're talking about?" Sōma asked and cheerfully curious tone. He never got a chance to go through the bag, so he didn't know what was in the bag the Meat Master gave him.

A spark flared through Takumi's brain as he looked over the beef cuts. A few seconds later he bolted over to the blind redhead and whispered something into his ear.

Sōma raised his brows in amazement when he said, "Oh, yeah, it's possible. I make a lot of dishes for Andoryū that are like that, but I've never tried it with any type of stew though."

With a smirk on his face, Takumi said with an eager tone, "Well, what do you say, you want to try it out?"

A similar smirk appeared on Sōma's face when he said, "Now what kind of chef would I be if I said no to that?"

Sotsuda had no idea what was going on, but he knew that it had to be something big. Isami, on the other hand, looked at the beef cuts again and that was when he figured out what his brother and the blind redhead was talking about. And the younger Aldini had to admit, it was an interesting idea.

But the next thing Sotsuda knew, he was being pushed out of the kitchen and being told that there weren't going to be any more interviews. Then the door slid closed and was locked. It took a few seconds to realized what had happened, the Jr High student banged on the door and shouted, "Awww! But what about my complete-coverage feature article I'm trying to write?!"

Days until the Semi-Finals: 4 Days.

~}i{~

To be continued in Chapter 13.

~}i{~

Omake: Summer Time at Shokujidokoro Yukihira.

}i{ July 11, Summer Job Day 10 }i{

"I made cookies for everyone participating in the Menu Contest," Kon stated suddenly as she came in carrying a medium-sized box in her arms alongside Ki, Ishi, and Aki. She then stated to everyone in the diner in a deadpin tone, "Letting you know, none of them have chocolate. So if you like those, tough luck."

The Elites blinked in confusion as they glanced at one another.

Ishi gave a nervous chuckle before saying to his taller friend, "Kon, you're not supposed to say that, it's kind of rude. Next time, try saying "I didn't make any with chocolate, but I got some tasty alternatives you'll like to try them". That's more appropriate to say."

Kon then looked up in thoughtfulness for a few seconds before saying, "Ah, it does sound better." She then placed the box on a nearby table. Once her hands were free, she pulled a small light brown hardback notebook from the left pocket near her knee, unhooked a mini-pen that was attached to the notebook, flipped through the notebook to a clean page, and wrote on that page. This action confused the Seven Elites. One thing that Erina noticed when Kon was writing, was that her nails were completely white.

The fox-eyed ravenette then took a seat at one of the tables, facing away from everyone, took out a book from a pack he had on him, and started reading.

Aki then walked over to the barstools and told Sōma, who was cooking in the kitchen, "Ishi-kun's reading at B8 and Kon-kun just put the annual pre-contest cookies on C2."

Sōma smiled and said, "I was wondering when you were going to bring those in Kon. Oh, by the way, Aki, Mayu's at the dance studio right now getting more reference for her animation."

Aki huffed in annoyance and said, "She could've told me that ahead of time."

"Pretty sure she told you over the phone yesterday," Sōma said with a small chuckle, making the sandy blond huff again.

The duo-coloured eyed teen then added, "Mayu also told you that she was going to be focusing on both her animation, thinking up recipes for a curry dish, and judging the Menu Contest when the two of you were eating ice cream during your afternoon walk in the nearby park four days ago. On the Rose Pattern Flora Trail. You had a double-decker chocolate soft serve in a sugar cone with multi-coloured sprinkles and pistachio piled on top, and Mayu had a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of vanilla in a cup with a hazelnut drizzle and pecans on top. Kon kept her distance from you because of the chocolate. Mayu was also complaining about how stupid whoever wrote up the selections for something called "Autumn Election" that was being held at Totsuki once Summer ends."

With that Aki turned pink and said, "Ah, right, we ran into you, Ishi-kun, and Kon-kun in the park that day... *Sigh* And if you said that it happened, then it has to be true."

The Elites had to blink at that. From what they could gather, the heterochromatic (2) teen seemed to perfectly recall exactly what happened a few days ago, just from memory alone. Down to even the smallest detail. None of the present members of the Elite 10 have ever witness or met anyone with that kind of memory before.

"The other contest goers should be in later," Sōma told Kon, who had just put the notebook back into her pocket. The blind redhead then added, "Knowing you, you have the cookies in something to keep them nice and warm."

Kon responded with a, "Pretty much." She then glanced at the Elites with her amber eyes and told them, "If you're in the Menu Contest you can have some cookies now. Just leave enough for the others."

The Elites glanced at each other again. Okaaaaay... They were sure Sōma told the tall green-haired teen their names and that they were participating in the contest... Did she just not put names to faces, or was she doing this on purpose?

Alice, Ryō, Akira, and Shiomi-sensei walked into the diner. The whitette immediately smelled cookies.

Kon looked at them and asked, "I made cookies for all the other contest goers. Are you participating in the Menu Contest?"

Alice happily pipped up, "Of course we are, Konny-chan, don't be silly."

Ki and Aki looked at the albino with a raised brow. Sōma was wondering if he was hearing things right. Akira, Ryō, and Shiomi-sensei blinked in confusion. The Elites, especially Erina, weren't too surprised by this. Ishi made no notion that he even heard what was said when he turned a page. Kon looked at Alice as if she was trying to figure out if Alice was crazy or not when she said, "Uhh, what did you just call me?"

Alice huffed childishly before saying, "You're a girl right?"

Kon still had that confused look on her face when she said, "Umm, yes, I am, and you're older than me, so why are you calling me Niichan?"

Alice happily explained, "Well, I just feel like Kon isn't a cute and suitable nickname for a girl, so I'm calling you Konny since it's cuter. Because we're in Japan, we need to use Honorifics, and since you're a girl, you get the -chan honorific. Thus Konny-chan~."

It was very quiet in the diner at the moment, save for the sounds of pages turning.

Finally, Kon said in a tone that gave the feeling that she was still unsure of the whole thing, "Uhh, I usually don't like it when people use the -chan honorific with my nickname, but you don't seem like you're going to stop using that even if I ask you to."

Alice pretty much happily answered a Yup, before Ryō asked the tall amber-eyed teen, "You don't like being called Kon-chan?"

Kon pretty much stated in a matter-of-fact tone as she shook her head, "Sounds too close to "Konshan", it's Russian for 'The End'. Not particularly good nickname. So would you guys mind using -kun instead."

That was doable.

"Wait, hold on..." Tsukasa vocalized before asking, "You said that Nakiri Alice is older than you... How? You're 18, right?"

Sōma chuckled a bit before saying, "Nope. Kon, Ki, and Ishi are 13-years-old. Kon is just the tallest of the three." While the blind redhead might not know what his three friends looked like, he knew that Kon's height made it easy for new people to be a bit confused about her actual age. And Sōma's fellow Totsuki students were reacting as the blind redhead figured they would.

Kon scratched her cheek, "I guess I'm tall because both my parents are on the tall side. You've met my dad, so you know he's tall... Although I don't understand why people antiquate height with age."

Sōma couldn't help but chuckle over the silence of the diner. The blind redhead then told Kon, "Meh, I guess it's because people grow when they age, but I can understand how it can be a bit misleading in a way." Akira discreetly glanced at Shiomi-sensei at this statement. After all, the teacher certainly doesn't look her age.

It didn't take long for there to be a crowd around the cookies.

Akira broke one red cookie in half and took in the scent of it. "Whoa, this smells like a fruit punch bowl," the whitette said before taking a bit of one of the halves. The taste was like swimming through a river of berries mingling cohesively with one another. Akira chewed, swallowed, and then said in amazement, "And it tastes like fruit punch too."

Kon looked at the cookie and said, "Oh, that's because I used actual fruit punch for the liquid ingredient part for that batch. Although you gotta make sure you use the right amount of berries to get the right consistency."

Alice picked up a yellowish cookie, brought it to her nose to sniff the scent, and said, "Mmmm~, smells like lemons." She then took a small bite of the cookie. The taste of the cookie was like sitting under the shade of an orange tree while wearing a sundress in the middle of summer and slowly sipping a glass of smooth and tangy lemonade. "Oh, wow, yum, I was expecting this to just be a little sour but it's has a pleasant tangy taste to it that works well with the sour," Alice said before happily taking another bite of the cookie.

Again, Kon looked at the cookie in the albino's hand and said, "That's from a batch that has the right orange-to-lemon ratio. It was fun to experiment for that ratio."

Ryō looked at the container full of cookies and asked, "If you like making cookies so much, why did you sign-up for the Main Course category?"

Kon shrugged and said as she looked at the cookie box, "I like making cookies for fun, and it's the only dessert food I like making. Never really cared much for dessert."

Ki chuckled and said, "True, you rarely eat dessert because the majority of desserts are meant to be eaten either chilled or cold, and you're not a fan of those kinds of foods. Ishi, on the other hand, doesn't like sweet desserts."

Akira glanced at the heterochromatic teen and asked, "What about you?"

Ki shrugged and stated, "I'm fine with dessert, but I prefer eating them on special occasions rather than after lunches or dinners."

Akira hummed a bit before turning his attention towards Ishi, who was still reading his book at one of the tables. The spice master tilted his head to the side a bit. The raven-haired teen of the Trinity had made absolutely no indication that he even heard the comment or anything that has been said so far. 'Either that's a really interesting book or...' Akira thought as he finished off the cookie he had.

The fact that the tall amber-eyed teen made cookies that everyone seemed to enjoy was peeving Akanegakubo a bit, or a lot since her pride as a dessert master was bigger than she was. "Give Momo a cookie! Momo wants to taste them!" the short 3rd-year demanded as she hugged her Bucchi close to her chest.

Kon raised a brow at the shorter girl, well more at the bear, and said, "If you're participating in the contest then you can have one, then no one's stopping you from taking any. Just leave enough for the others." The green-haired teen was starting to feel like a broken record. Kon then stated, "And talking in third-person like a little child makes you sound like you can't take anything seriously."

This, of course, made Akanegakubo mad when she shouted while waving Bucchi, "Momo can take things very seriously! Now give Momo cookie."

Kon folded her arms and stated, "You are old enough to get a cookie yourself, so do so." Erina was taken back at how rude the green-haired teen was.

Ki pinched the bridge of his nose when he said, "Kon, we've gone over this. Please look at page 26 of your Social Notebook."

Kon immediately pulled the notebook out of her left lower pocket and flipped through the pages before stopping on the designated page. She read what was written before saying, "Oh... Whoops, sorry."

Ki patted Kon on the shoulder before saying, "I am aware that it's hard for you, but please keep that in mind, okay?" The amber-eyed teen nodded.

An idea sparked in Sōma's head when he said, "Ya know, since you Elites signed up for the Menu Contest, you all can have a cookie. Besides, you're getting a little taste of the competition. Well, for those in the Main Course category anyway *chuckles a bit*."

"Elites?" Ki asked with a raised brow while Kon made no facial distortion of any kind, making it rather hard to tell what she was thinking. Aki tilted her head to the side in confusion at this, but she then settled on the idea that they were probably nicknamed "Elite Troublemakers" or something along that line.

The Totsuki students and teacher did find this little slip a bit odd. As far as they knew, Sōma was supposed to tell the patrons that the Elites were apart of a 'Gifted but Troublesome Camp Program', or something like that. Akira placed a hand to his chin and wondered, 'Did Sōma reveal that on purpose? If so, why?'

The 7 Elites decided that they might as well give the cookies a shot, Akanegakubo more than the others. Besides, how good are these cookies? The tall amber-eyed teen wasn't even a Totsuki student, so they figured that what was being said about the cookies were just being a little exaggerated.

When they all each took a cookie and bit into them, well, let's just say that their initial opinions had greatly changed.

Akanegakubo's pâtissier (3) pride was starting to flare up. Kinokuni couldn't help but say, "These are good, but I'm surprised that you're not in the Jr High Division of Totsuki. Have you tried applying?"

Kon raised a brow and stated flatly, "Why would I apply there? I'm already enrolled in two schools." She then glanced at Ki and Ishi and added, "All three of us are doubled enrolled, and one of the schools offers cooking classes. So there's no need for us to apply to Totsuki. *Quickly turns to Sōma* No offence Sōma, but to us cooking is a necessity, not a career."

Sōma casually waved and said in a cheery tone, "Non taken, Kon. Besides, everyone's different and have different opinions about what they want to learn and do."

Shiomi-sensei couldn't help but wonder if what the blind redhead said had meant more then what he had just said.

Soon, things started to pick up, which was the Trinity's cue to leave. Kon told Sōma that she'll pick up her cookie box tomorrow. Ki mentioned that they had promised Ishi's older sister that they would help her with something. Just as the two were about to go towards their friend, Eizan stopped them and offered to do it for them, he went ahead before they could say anything. Sōma couldn't help but think that his actions were suspicious.

"Ishi-kun, your friends said it's time to help your sister," Eizan said out loud. Ishi made no notion that he acknowledged the 9th Seat as he continued to read his book.

"Hey! Eizan-senpai! Wait a minute!" Sōma vocalized, trying to get the blond males attention from the kitchen, but to no avail.

That was when Eizan suddenly placed a hand on Ishi's shoulder as he snapped, "Hey, are you even listening?"

The sound of a book hitting wood coupling with the sounds of someone being slammed to the ground and a shout of pain filled the air of the diner.

At the moment, Ishi had Eizan on the ground with one arm being held painfully against his back while the other was splade on the ground. The raven-haired teen had one knee planted on the back of one of the blonde's knees, which had to be very painful for the glasses-wearing 2nd-year student. Ishi's other hand was gripping the back of Eizan's neck, fingers directly on the pressure points.

Sōma sighed before saying, "Too late... Judging by the sounds..."

That was when Akira noticed something that made him think, 'He really is!'

Kon walked over to her friend, and the pinned downed Totsuki student. Ki sighed as the tall amber-eyed teen stood in front of their friend and waved a hand in front of the ravenette's face. Ishi, in turn, looked up at his friend just in time for her to say, "It's time for us to go, so you can get off this guy now," as she pointed to Eizan. The glasses-wearing 2nd-year student was starting to feel numb in the pained places.

With that, Ishi got off Eizan. As this happened, Kon told the 9th Seat, "I'd suggest you get up slowly so your blood can get used to getting back to its usual flow. Moving fast will cause you excruciating pain."

Eizan glared at the two before snapping as he started moving, "What the He-!" He had tried to get on his feet as quickly as possible, but the sudden burst of pain from his arm and leg stopped him in his tracks, not to mentioned caused him to fall back to the ground. Yeah, saying he was in pain was an understatement.

"You don't seem to listen a whole lot," Kon commented. Ki now stood next to his friends. Ishi rubbed the back of his head apologetically as he looked at the glasses-wearing blonde.

Eizan shot a glare at the trio before snapping, "And what about your friend? Hmm? He didn't hear a word I said!"

Ishi's eyebrows narrowed when he said, "Hey! I would've heard you if you had bothered to learn how you're supposed to talk to me."

Ki then interrupted the conversation/argument by saying that they needed to leave now if they wanted to be on time. Kon and Ishi nodded as the three started leaving. Ki then looked over his shoulder to tell the blind redhead, "Sōma, just tell them when things cool off here, all right?"

Sōma nodded before saying, "Will do. Eizan-senpai should be feeling a bit better by then." And with that, the Trinity left the diner. The blind redhead then asked for one of the other Elites to help Eizan off the floor and into a chair so his circulation can go back to normal and not be in the way of the customers.

Akira seemed to know what the Trinity was talking about.

~}i{ Later That Day }i{~

Close to closing (Akira, Ryō, Alice, and Shiomi-sensei are still in the diner), the regular patrons have all went home. Eizan had finally cooled down a bit, and that's a very loose term.

"Alright! Now tell us what the hell is up with those three so-called friends of yours!" Eizan snapped the blind redhead, who was just wiping down a table.

Erina then said as she was putting away the dishes, "I agree with Eizan-senpai. That two colours eyed one seemed to remember practically everything. That Kon girl has to be the bluntest and rudest person I've ever met. And the one who practically slammed Eizan-senpai to the ground had no reason to, and that's on top of blatantly ignoring him."

"Oh right, I heard from the other customers that Ki was heterochromatic," Sōma said thoughtfully as he moved to the next table. The blind redhead then said, "By the way, Ki doesn't remember everything because he wants to but because he can never forget anything. Then again, anyone with Hyperthymesia (4) can never forget anything."

"Hyper-what-now?" Kobayashi asked cluelessly.

"What is this Hyper-themescira?" Kinokuni asked as she adjusted her glasses.

Sōma started wiping the next table when he said, "It's Hyperthymesia, and I guess the best way to describe it in a way that is easy to understand is that it would be like having a photographic memory that never shuts off and is always working."

Alice blinked before saying, "Wow, so he can't forget anything?" Sōma replied a "Basically" before the albino said, "That is both super cool and super sad at the same time."

Tsukasa turned to the other Nakiri and asked, "What do you mean by that? Being able to remember everything sounds like an amazing thing to be able to do. You won't have to take notes or recipes and you can remember what ingredients you need when you go to the store."

Shiomi-sensei was the one to say, "But if you can never forget anything, then that also means you have to remember things that were unpleasant." Alice nodded at that.

Sōma then added, "Yeah, that true, and that can be a hindrance in certain situations..." When Ryō asked what the blind redhead meant by that, Sōma answered, "Well, one memory that I know about was when Ki nearly drowning in a pool because he got one of his legs tangled in a malfunctioning pool safety rope. Because of that, Ki won't go in a pool if there's a safety rope in it simply because every time he even sees one he'll immediately remembers that trauma, even though he's now a pretty good swimmer."

The Elites looked at one another. Now that they thought about it, it did make a lot of sense... On the surface, being able to remember everything did seem like an amazing thing to do but... That was also the reason why it can be so painful...

"As for Ishi," Sōma said, interrupting the Elite's thoughts. The blind redhead then added, "He wasn't ignoring anyone."

That was when Akira suddenly said, "He's Hard-of-Hearing, right?" Sōma stopped what he was doing when he heard. The whitette then said as he tapped his right ear with his right hand, which was more for the others to note, "I saw his hearing aids when he slammed Eizan-senpai to the ground."

Sōma closed his unseeing eyes and said, "Yeah, he's Hard-of-Hearing. It's hard to tell he is sometimes unless you're talking to him from behind."

That was when Ryō asked, "Hold on, if he's Hard-of-Hearing, how can he communicate so clearly and can understand what others are saying?"

Sōma chuckled a bit before saying, "Well, first off, he's good at reading lips. And second, the hearing aids he's wearing are good at picking up sound from the front so he can hear himself talk, but I'm sure you've realized that they don't detect sound from behind."

"Which was why he didn't react to anything that was said when we were around the cookies, he wasn't facing us, therefore he wasn't able to hear us," Akira said, then realized why Ishi acted the way he did earlier and added, "And why he attacked Eizan-senpai when he did! He was startled when he was suddenly grabbed from behind and acted on self-defence. He didn't know someone was behind him was trying to get his attention."

Sōma nodded and said, "Yeah, his back is his blind spot, so to speak. I always need to have either someone tell me where Ishi is facing or him talking to me so I know where to face to talk to him and know he can hear me."

Saitou couldn't help but comment, "That doth have'th to be'th a challenge. Ye are blind and he doth be deaf, communication between ye must be'th tough."

Sōma shrugs his shoulders a bit when he said, "Yeah, it was, but thanks to Ki, Kon, Mayu, Hiro, and a good number of regulars helping, we've managed to work out a communication system."

Shiomi-sensei smiled a bit when she said, "It's nice that you guys were able to work something out."

"Alright, I'll admit, two of them have a reasonable explanation for acting the way they do, but not the third," Eizan stated sourly, kinda breaking the current mood. While he now knew why he ended up kissing the floor, it still didn't make it any less humiliating for him.

Sōma folded the cloth his had in his hand and said, "Yes, I'm aware that Kon can be very blunt, but I can assure you, she doesn't mean to be rude."

"Why do I find that very hard to believe," Eizan snapped, not liking this sort of situation. He had no control, so he didn't like it.

Sōma's eyes opened before he said, "Maybe it's because you don't have what it takes to even try to understand others."

'That was a dagger loaded comment,' Akira and Ryō noted as they saw Eizan visibly flinched. The other Elites couldn't help but think that comment being a bit too accurate.

Sōma started walking towards the back when he said, "I'll give you guys an easy to understand description for what Kon has, but this time, you have to figure out what it's called. I can't tell you everything that goes on in the real world ya'know, though I'm sure some of you will figure it out pretty easily. You see, Kon was born with her brain wired differently from an average brain, and it's something that both makes her incredibly intelligent and skilled, but at the same time hinders her in certain situations." With that Sōma went into the back to get ready for closing.

The Totsuki students couldn't help but wonder what exactly the blind redhead meant by that, but the Totsuki teacher...

Shiomi-sensei's eyes widened when she thought, 'No way! But... That would explain her behaviour perfectly.'

~}i{~

Omake: To Be Continued...

~}i{~

1) Niichan is more of a childish way of saying Big Brother.

2) Heterochromatic, or heterochromia, usually the term is used to describe the condition where a person has different coloured eyes — one blue eye and one green eye, for example. Or in Ki's case, a green eye and a black eye. Heterochromia means "different (hetero-) colours (-chromia)."

3) Pâtissier is a Pastry Chef.

4) Individuals with Hyperthymesia can recall much of their lives in near-perfect detail, as well as public events that hold some personal significance to them. Those affected describe their memories as uncontrollable associations; when they encounter a date, they "see" a vivid depiction of that day in their heads. Recollection occurs without hesitation or conscious effort. And as Sōma said, it's like having a photographic memory that never shuts off and is always working. People with Hyperthymesia are prone to having headaches, insomnia, tire easily, and can never forget anything. They can't alter their memories or sugarcoat events that they have experienced that they would rather forget. It's a real thing, incredibly rare, but real.

~}i{~