Kyandi: We're back!
Ariadne: She's had a hard time not writing on this story.
Kyandi: I can't help it! The series is hilarious!
Ariadne: Well, my life certain is anything but normal.
Kyandi: Yet, you handle it with such grace.
Ariadne: I try.
Kyandi: That's all anyone can do. Anyway, we're getting closer to where I get to show all of you some of the recipes I had to research for Ariadne.
Ariadne: Some are recipes of her own creation.
Kyandi: And their delicious! Anyway, everyone enjoy and review.
Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.
Chapter 3 The Don of Dons
"What about this one?"
Ariadne hummed to herself, rolling a bite of food over her tongue as she test tasted what seemed like the hundredth don bowl since Souma had dragged her and Megumi back to the Don RS clubroom. It seemed that until the Food War between Souma and Mito, Ariadne would be one of the ones to taste all of Souma's attempts.
Not that she minded as long as he kept his weirder concoctions to himself, that was.
"It's good, but there's still something missing." Ariadne said, heaving a sigh as she sat the bowl down.
Souma clicked his tongue at another failure, crossing his arms as he tried to think of what they could do that wouldn't be common or pale in comparison to Mito's.
"Nikumi is a meat specialist...especially with beef." Kanichi said. "I don't think there's any need to fixate on beef don. Besides an oyakodon, for example, uses chicken meat. It works with this theme. A dish that overlaps as little as possible with Nikumi's is better."
"I see...so it should be as eccentric as possible. Tadokoro, is there any don you like?" Souma asked.
"Ermm...I don't know if it could be called a don and it isn't meat either. You see, you grill scallops on a net and add a bit of butter and soy sauce inside the opening. If you put that on steamy hot rice, it's really delicious." Megumi replied.
"What about you, Ari?" Souma asked.
"Well, I haven't had many dons in my life, but there is one I'm fond of, but it's not considered meat. I like a Poke Bowl." Ariadne replied.
"Poke Bowl?" Megumi asked.
"Poke is consider an Hawaiian soul food. It's been gaining a lot of popularity among American-Japanese cuisine. It's essentially chunks of raw fish marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil, tossed with sesame seeds and seaweed. The most common used fish for it are yellowfin tuna, octopus, skipjack tuna, and salmon. I've seen it made with ponzu sauce, sriracha, gochujang, wasabi and grated ginger juice with toppings ranging from avocado, cucumbers, edamame, green onions, masago, furikake and pickled sushi ginger. It's actually really good." Ariadne explained.
With both Megumi and Ariadne presenting two seafood dons, Kanichi deflated, tears streaming down his face.
"That's right...! We could have battled using a seafood don. Yukihira, it's all because you said you'd battle using meat." Kanichi complained.
"The theme for the battle is already decided so stop grumbling!" Souma told him.
"You don't know how strong Nikumi is!" Kanichi insisted "If she brings an A5 beef, we can't win!"
"A5 was...ermm, if I'm not mistaken, it was a rank for the quality of meat, right?" Megumi asked.
"It is. A5 is the highest rank a piece of meat can achieve." Ariadne confirmed.
"Meat of that level is drinkable." Kanichi added.
"He has a point. Meat that had been granted an A5 rank is extremely tender. You don't even need to use your teeth, it's that tender." Ariadne agreed.
"This is also an important point, the ingredients used in Food Wars must be prepared by the competitors, because being able to get a supply of raw ingredients is a necessary skill for chefs! The Mito household is expanding as a large-scale meat distributor. They have complete control over a section of the beef business. Financial muscle, installations, and commercial routes. All of those constitute the reason why Nikumi's dishes are of the highest quality." Kanichi told them, only getting more depressed the more he talked.
"I wonder if you can really surpass that amazing meat." Megumi remarked.
"In the end, it's not really about how high grade the ingredients are. Even low valued ingredients can be off good quality, you know." Ariadne assured her.
"Hey guys..." All three of them turned to look at Souma as he spoke. "I really think the Don RS should go with beef don too."
At this, Ariadne had to stick her fingers in her ears, Kanichi's loud voice threatening to burst her eardrums.
"Hey, Yukihira, were you listening to me?! With beef you can't possibly hope to beat Nikumi." Kanichi insisted.
"But Konishi-senpai, you said this. Don are "fast, tasty, and cheap". Nikumi is looking down on that, you know? To make her admit that don is good, we have to beat her using a convenient beef dish or it will be meaningless!" Souma explained.
"He makes a good point." Ariadne said, seeing where Souma was going with this.
To beat Mito, really beat her, they had to play at her game. How else could they really make her admit defeat?
"So...sometimes men have things they must protect even if it means to betray their beliefs." Kanichi said, though his tone didn't convey any kind of confidence in the idea.
"Whatever we do, we're about to run out of ingredients." Ariadne said, suddenly, her eyes travelling over what ingredients they had left.
Souma joined her, looking over what they had left.
"Let's buy some more. How much of the Don RS' club budget is left?" Souma asked.
"Ummm, that is..."
Souma and Ariadne turned to look at Kanichi who was suddenly sweating more than normal. He looked nervous enough to faint right then and there.
"What's up, senpai?" Souma asked.
"Well...the remaining budget...adding all I have is..."
Silence reigned over the room as Kanichi laid out all that was left of the budget. Ariadne had to blink as she counted and recounted. Finally, Souma yelled, it finally sinking in that the meager amount sitting before them, was all they had to use. Now feeling a little pressure, Souma made a run for the nearest ATM, to withdraw whatever money his father had deposited in his account.
Which wasn't that much either.
Ariadne, who had gone with him, glanced over his shoulder at the amount. Souma only turned his attention to her when she sighed before moving to the ATM, herself.
"Ari?"
"I can't offer up much, myself, but I should be able to give you enough to cover the vegetables and rice. You're on your own for the meat." she told him as she punched in her pin and money was spit out for her. Taking it in hand, she turned to a surprised Souma and gave him a smile. "What? I'm invested in this. Besides, like I said, it's not much."
Souma smiled back at her. It might not be that much to her, but it would turn out to mean a lot to Don RS. With that, at least, settled, the two headed back to the Don RS clubroom. They walked in to find Megumi and Kanichi piling up notebooks. The two looked up as Souma and Ariadne walked into the room.
"These are the Don RS' past recipe compilations! I brought them from the storehouse. There might be something we can use!" Kanichi told them.
Seeing the work Megumi and Kanichi had put in while they were gone, after having Ariadne offer to help with funds, fired Souma up.
"Alright! Let's do this!"
With that newly fired up spirit, Souma went back to testing dishes, getting Kanichi and Ariadne to taste them for him. They continued that way, Ariadne and Megumi making runs for ingredients, over the next day. By the time they reached the night before the Food War, Ariadne felt like she had gained twenty pounds and Kanichi was so dejected, they were resorting to throwing water at him just to snap him out of it long enough to try another dish.
It was late at night and Megumi and Ariadne were cleaning up notes off the floor while Souma sat in silent contemplation.
"Souma-kun...why don't you rest a bit?" Megumi suggested, approaching Souma. "If you have a change of pace you might come up with an idea to overcome this. Like in the first class...just kidding.
"Ah...that one. When I softened the meat with honey." Souma replied, his eyes landing on the notebook in Megumi's arms.
The cover read, "Japanese Style Steak Don".
Souma jumped up from his seat, Megumi letting out a squeak when he seized Megumi by the shoulders.
"You're a lifesaver, Tadokoro. There was one! A way to give impact to meat with convenient prices! Konishi-san! It can be any part, short loin, sirloin, or whatever! Do we have any beef steak left?!" Souma called, turning to Kanichi.
"Beef steak? You tried doing a Japanese style steak don just before, didn't you?! Just what are you..."
"There's some right here, Souma." Ariadne butted in, setting out the meat on a cutting board.
Souma got to work, cutting a net pattern into the meat before beating it to stretch it out. Watching as he covered both sides of the steak with finely chopped onion, letting it sit for a while, Ariadne had a feeling she knew what he was aiming for. They watched as he removed the onion, adding salt and pepper before grilling it. He then used the left over juices to fry the onions and reapplied the onions to the steak. He placed that on top of the rice.
"Huh...a Chaliapin Steak Don." Ariadne voiced in surprise.
"Now, all three of you, taste it!" Souma demanded.
Ariadne took one of the bowls, picking up her chopsticks. She found the steak tender enough to cut with chopsticks and when she took a bite, the meat came apart in her mouth with an explosion of flavor. Tasting it, it was hard to believe that it was a cheaply bought meat.
"It's so tender." Ariadne praised.
"Onions have enzymes that decompose proteins...just like pineapples and honey. That's why the meat becomes this tender." Souma explained.
"It's good, really Souma, but...I feel it's still lacking something." Ariadne remarked.
"I was thinking the same thing." Souma agreed.
"You're still going to modify it?" Kanichi asked.
"This finely chopped onion, I'll make it evolve into the best sauce that gives color to this don.." Souma answered.
"This means we're going to be up all night, doesn't it?" Ariadne asked.
"A little bit." Souma admitted.
"Eh...it beats going home and having to deal with Isshiki-senpai popping in for a chat through my ceiling tiles. Speaking of...remind me to buy some industrial strength super glue before we go back to the dorm."
Kanichi gave Souma and Megumi a questioning look when Ariadne said this, but Souma waved it off and Megumi only gave him a sheepish smile.
"Alright! Let's get to work!"
-0-0-0-0-
The next morning, Souma sent Kanichi and Ariadne out to gather the last ingredients and tools he would need for the battle.
"We somehow gathered the ingredients and tools needed for the match." Kanichi told Souma as Ariadne placed the last cooler down.
"Here's everything you asked for. I did a little shopping around but I found all the freshest ingredients at the lowest prices. You should be good." Ariadne added.
"Oh! Thanks, Konishi-san, Ari!" Souma told the two.
"Yukihira...did you sleep a bit? You were experimenting with the sauce until morning, right?" Kanichi asked.
"Hm, I'm okay, I'm okay!" Souma replied.
"Are you sure about that, mon amie?" Ariadne asked, giving him a concerned once over.
"Yeah, I'll be good." Souma assured her.
Meanwhile, Megumi was off to the side, already freaking out, even though it wasn't her taking part in the Food War.
"Awawah, t-there's so many people...Souma-kun, do-don't panic, a-a-at any rate, calm down!" Megumi said. "I-i-in times like this, you have to write the kanji of person on your hand."
"Y-yeah, for the time being, you swallow it, okay?" Souma told her.
"Honestly, Megumi. Ma chérie, you're nervous enough for all four of us." Ariadne told Megumi, giving her a smile. "I mean, look at Souma. He's calm as can be."
Megumi turned to Souma, who was calmly checking to make sure everything was together and ready for the Food War.
"Aren't you nervous? You're going to cook in front of so many people? Just by thinking what would happen if it was me..." Megumi trailed off, a shiver shaking her small form.
"Not at all, I mean, compared to standing in front of the customers while carrying on your shop's name, this isn't scary at all." Souma told her.
"You just need to learn out to get our of your head, Megumi." Ariadne told her, giving her a smile.
"Thank you for waiting! The Food War Administration Bureau has recognized this match as an official Food War! Soon it will start!"
Hearing the voice over the speakers told them that it was about time to start. Ariadne gave Souma a nod, the boy smiling back at her.
"We have three judges! The theme is don! The main ingredient is meat! Well then, from each corner, both contestants will enter! The first one to appear is the Meat Master...Mito Ikumi! Now, next, Yukihira Souma-kun makes his entry!"
Ariadne, along with Kanichi and Megumi, joined Souma in walking out. Though, unlike Kanichi and Megumi, who both hid behind Souma, Ariadne strutted out like a peacock proudly showing it's feathers. She had no problem being the center of attention, or, in this case, semi-center. She was far too amused with the fact that Souma entered the arena to a loud roar of boos. It was obvious that everyone there hoped that Souma went down in flames.
"You transferred just a few days ago, right? What did you do to get hated this much?" Kanichi asked Souma.
"Well...nothing really, I was pretty normal." Souma replied, clueless.
Ariadne couldn't hold back a laugh at that. Souma gave her a questioning look, showing just how dense he was, but Ariadne simply waved him off, shaking her head at him. Ariadne simply shooed him off towards Mito, giving him a wink before joining Megumi and Kanichi on the sidelines. Just as the boos were dying down, gasps replaced those jeers as Erina, herself, made an appearance.
With everyone in place, Ariadne, Megumi and Kanichi taking seats in chairs set out for them, the Food War was called to a start.
As they thought, Mito brought out her best A5 meat for the battle, expertly breaking it down until she had the cut she wanted. Ariadne, leaning back in her chair with her legs crossed, watched Mito as she moved about her station, starting her cooking. On the other hand, Souma was finishing up with chopping a large amount of onion. That done, he pulled his meat out of a bag, revealing a discount steak Souma had been lucky to catch on sale.
Ariadne couldn't help but laugh as the crowd reacted badly to that. Apparently they thought Souma was taking them for fools, bringing in such cheaply bought food. Ariadne, though, had a feeling that Souma was going to teach them all that it didn't matter how much one spent on their ingredients.
Through the whole cooking process, Mito kept up her smack talk, Souma ignoring her for the most part. When they finally entered the judging part of the Food War, it was Mito and her Japanese Beef Roti Don, that went before the judges first.
Just seeing the dish from where she sat, made Ariadne's mouth water. The way Mito had arranged her meat on top of the rice, made it look like a flower had bloomed there. It was both delicious looking and pretty to look at. Going by the judges' reactions, it was just as delicious as it looked. All three judges gave her dish a raving review, complimenting her juicy meat and tasty garlic rice.
When Souma stepped up to have his dish judged, many of the students watching thought the battle was already over, that there was no way Souma could match up to Mito. Even the judges thought so. The judges were silenced, though, when Souma presented his dish. One bite was all it took to have all three judges scarfing down Souma's food.
Surprised by the deep flavor and taste to Souma's dish, the judges couldn't stop from continuing to eat. It was then that Souma revealed a secret to his dish, that he had mixed pickled plums into the rice to give it a refreshing taste. It was so good that once the judges had emptied their bowls, they even requested seconds while they hadn't even completely finished Mito's dish.
The whole thing left Mito completely stunned and she couldn't figure out what was so different between their rice that the judges hadn't even bothered to finish hers.
"You're thinking what happened to the rice? Right?" Souma asked from behind Mito. "From the moment I heard from Konishi-san that you were using cured Japanese beef, I knew that if you made the rice with a strong flavor to counter the beef's deliciousness, they would naturally fight each other. Your dish looks like a don but it isn't a don! The Don RS's chief said this too, to the end don are completed in one bowl."
"Even if you grumble sophisms, there's no way you can win against my high-grade me-"
"If you can't accept it, then do you want to listen to them too? The words that my don says?" Souma asked, cutting Mito off as he held out another bowl of his don.
Mito took it from him, to see what the difference was. Like with the judges, it only took one bite for her to start devouring it. She knew she had lost, even before the judges announced that the winner was a cheer from Megumi and Kanichi, Souma was declared the winner. Ariadne joined the two as they hurried over Souma.
"You...really are an amazing man, Yukihira. You're the only one who can carry on with the Don RS." Kanichi said, laying a hand on Souma's shoulder. "The next Don RS's Don is you! Yukihira!"
Ariadne slapped a hand over her mouth, fighting back the urge to laugh when Kanichi was quickly shot down.
"But, I won't join the club." Souma told him. "I mean, I just went to see what it was like. Well, but, thanks to that, I was able to make a new don dish."
Kanichi couldn't believe his ears. He turned to Ariadne, hoping that she, at least, would join his pitifully small club. Ariadne was waving him off before he had even fully turned to her.
"I wasn't looking to join any of the clubs. I was merely tagging along. Sorry to disappoint." Ariadne informed him. "With that said, I was up late last night and my body demands either sweets or sleep. I fully intend to fulfill both demands. Best of luck, Kanichi-senpai!"
Ariadne gave Kanichi's shoulder a pat before she took off towards the exit, Megumi hot on her heels, really to get home and stuff her mouth with some chocolates she had hidden in a box in the back of her closet. Though, the more she thought about the chocolates, the more she craved something a little more filling. The question then became, what did she want to make.
"Hmm...hey, Megumi, what would you say to taste testing a cannoli for me?" Ariadne asked, turning to the girl walking at her side.
"Uh, sure." Megumi agreed.
"Géniale! I have some really good chocolates that my brother sent me, that would make the perfect filling!" Ariadne said happily, already feeling more awake at the idea of getting into the kitchen and cooking.
"You really like sweets, don't you, Ari?" Megumi asked.
"But of course! My family specializes in sweet recipes, and, no, I don't just mean pastries and sweets." Ariadne replied.
"You mean like that sweet stew you made the first day of classes?" Megumi asked.
"Exactly! You'd be surprised how many dishes can be slightly changed to have a sweet taste and still be delicious." Ariadne told her. "That was my parents' specialty and it's mine now."
"It must be difficult, finding ways to balance certain foods and spices with a sweet taste." Souma remarked, having caught up to the two girls.
"There are some dishes that aren't meant to be sweet, and, in those cases, I have to become very creative, but I've managed to make it work thus far. I don't relish the day I finally come across a dish in which I can't manage that." Ariadne replied.
"I'm sure you'd be able to manage." Souma told her.
"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. It's nice to have support." Ariadne replied, smiling brightly.
If she was being honest, when Ariadne had first arrived in Japan, she had been justifiably concerned that she would have no support that didn't come from over six thousand miles away. She was glad to see, that for the time being, she had been wrong.
That support system would come in handy in the weeks and months to come.
-0-0-0-0-
The next morning, Isshiki decided to ask a favor of Ariadne.
Ariadne had already been up for some time, tending to a few young date and coconut palms she had managed to bring with her from home. Since both could be used to make natural sweeteners, Ariadne like having them on hand. She was in the middle of checking the soil they were growing out of when there wsa a thud from over head.
Ariadne looked up at the ceiling tiles over her head, a smirk curling her lips as there was a following series of thuds before they faded into the distance. She had made sure, the night before, before she went to bed, that she had completely super glued every ceiling tile in her room so that Isshiki couldn't use them to pop in whenever he wanted to.
Turning back to her work, Ariadne started to hum to herself. A few minutes later, Isshiki's voice reached her from the pipes curling up out of her floor.
"Uh...Ari-chan...did you happen to do something to the ceiling tiles in your room?"
Ariadne turned towards the pipes, her amusement obvious in her tone as she answered him.
"Come now, Isshiki-senpai. You can't honestly expect me, a young girl in a foreign country, to allow for such an invasion of privacy, now can you? If you need to talk to me, you can come to my door, or talk to me through the pipes like you are now." she told him. "Now, is there something you need?
"Uh, yes! I need you to help me out with something! Can you come outside?" Isshiki asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Of course, senpai. I'll be there in a moment."
Ariadne gave a shake of her head as he happily agreed. She wrapped up her work with her plants before she headed out. She ran into Souma in the hall, Isshiki having asked him for help too, and the two headed downstairs together. They met up with Yuuki as she was about to head out the door.
"Ahaha! Yukihira, you were woken up too?" Yuuki asked.
"You too, Yoshino?" Souma replied, Yuuki nodding. "And you, Ari?"
"I was already awake. Glad I was. Listening to Isshiki-senpai struggle with trying to get the ceiling tiles open in my room only to fail, was amusing." Ariadne replied.
"What did you to the ceiling tiles?" Yuuki asked.
"I bought some industrial strength super glue and sealed them all up last night." Ariadne told her. "Well, all but one. That one is just latched shut from my side. I only left that one in case there ever comes a time when I might possibly need it."
"That's really smart." Souma compliments.
"Merci!"
"What are we helping with?" Souma asked, changing the subject.
"He said we're harvesting vegetables in the field behind the dorm." Yuuki replied.
"Wow, to think he even grows his own ingredients." Souma praised.
"There's a lot of people who do that in the Polar Star dorm." Yuuki replied. Ibusaki cuts the wood he uses for smoking by himself. Ryoko's specialty is cooking using "Shiokouji". So she has her own workshop close to the dorm. I too, just like in France there's Bresse chickens, I wanted to make Polar Star chicken, so I've been grazing and raising them."
"I do it too." Ariadne said, drawing attention to her. "I just applied for use of one of the attached greenhouses to the dorm for when my specialty plants arrive. For now, I'm nursing a date palm and a coconut palm in my room. My father use to tell me that if you want the best of produce, there's only two way to get it. Either be the first to the seller or grow it yourself. I leaned more to the latter."
"See? And, this place is mainly managed by Isshiki-senpai!" Yuuki added as they rounded the side of the dorm building.
Before them spread a beautifully maintained garden, greenhouses sitting to the far left. While Ariadne had a decent sized garden back home, it was limited to a single greenhouse. This was far more than that. She felt the urge to explore well up in her chest.
That is...until she caught sight of Isshiki plowing a field.
"Mon Dieu! What is it with this boy and his clothes?!" Ariadne demanded when she caught sight of the simply loin cloth-type covering that Isshiki was wearing.
Aside from that, a pair of rubber boots, and a sun hat, the boy wore nothing else.
On the opposite of end of Isshiki's bare essentials style, there was Megumi who looked adorable in her sunhat, apron, and over-all gardener clothes. She greeted them with a bright smile, proudly showing them all the delicious looking vegetables she had managed to pick that morning. It was so cute, Ariadne couldn't keep herself from flying forward to hug Megumi, pressing one of her cheeks to Megumi's.
"You're so adorable, Megumi! I could just hug you all day~!" Ariadne told her, making the other girl blush. "When I go back home, you have to let me take you with me. Just for a little trip."
Megumi didn't know how to reply to that, but Souma and Yuuki stood back, feeling highly doubtful that it would be just "a little trip". Ariadne seemed like the type that liked to collect cute things. It didn't hurt that they were becoming good friends.
"Now, my friend, come here!" Isshiki called, Ariadne finally releasing Megumi. "Knowing how ingredients ripen is part of studying cooking. This is the Polar Star field...you can also call it Isshiki Field if you want! Here, have a bite."
Isshiki handed Ariadne and Souma each a tomato so fat and juicy, it barely fit in their palms. Ariadne raised it to her mouth, taking a bite. She immediately hummed to herself as the sweetness spread across her tongue.
"So sweet!" she praised.
"Yeah. It's firm and really sweet...I even want to have a stock of this at home. I'm amazed you could get this quality." Souma complimented after taking a bite.
"Well, actually, I'm devoted to this. Thanks to this, I haven't gone to my classes at all lately!" Isshiki told them.
"How haven't you been failed yet?" Ariadne demanded.
Isshiki merely gave her a sheepish smile.
"Oh, yes! Ari-chan!" Ariadne looked up after taking another bite of her tomato. "You're request for the use of one of our greenhouses went through. Greenhouse three is now all yours."
"Vraiment? C'est génial! That's great! Thank you! I'm suppose to receive some of my more commonly used herbs and spices from my siblings this week. It'll be amazing to have the greenhouse ready and waiting!" Ariadne cheered.
Souma and the others laughed as Ariadne seized Isshiki by his wrist and dragged him off, politely demanding he show her which greenhouse would be hers. Ariadne was happy to find the greenhouse already in order. She enlisted Isshiki's help in moving what plants she had, into the greenhouse and spent an hour getting them settled into their new home and making the greenhouse her own. Once that was done, she rejoined the others in picking vegetables from the garden.
Around noon, they took a break, Megumi bringing them a lunch of Three Kinds Onigiri. The onigiri mixed with the barley tea and roasted green tea Megumi brought them, had Ariadne sighing in content.
"You're a splendid cook, Megumi." Ariadne told her.
"This is the charm of Tadokoro-chan's cooking. It brings peace to the people who eat it." Isshiki agreed.
"The chicken breast isn't dried out and the pork is perfectly soft. All of these were carefully done." Souma praised before delivering the killing blow to Megumi. "Why can't you do this in classes?"
"Uh...I have stage fright...when I get nervous my head goes blank and I always make mistakes." Megumi replied.
"You just need to learn to relax a little bit, and just have fun with your cooking, Megumi." Ariadne told her, giving her a soft smile.
"She's right!" Isshiki agreed.
Megumi didn't seem too sure about that, but she let it go as they finished up their food and went back to work. By the time they were all done and headed back to the dorm, there was an information booklet addressed to the inhabitants of the dorm waiting for them.
"It finally came." Yuuki remarked, staring down at it.
"Yeah, it's addressed to the Polar Star Dorm." Shun added.
"What's this?" Souma asked.
Ariadne looked over his shoulder, reading the cover that was decorated by a little cartoon chef.
"Training lodging? I don't understand." Ariadne remarked.
"That's right. You're from France, right, Ari-chan? You don't have things like this." Isshiki remarked. "Here, kids have them in primary and middle school, too. It's outdoor school for a few days."
"I see, but why would a cooking school do something like this?" Ariadne asked.
"And why is Tadokoro trembling?" Souma asked. "It's like the smile she had just now was a lite."
"Yukihira, Air...you see, this training camp is the first hell the new high school section students have to go through!" Yuuki told them. "All of the first year students are assigned with rigorous cooking trials every day in the boarding house in the middle of the mountains. It is said that those who can't get passing marks are immediately expelled!"
So, in other words, where the booklet called it "Friendship and Rapport Training Lodging" it was more along the lines of "Cruel Elimination Training Lodging".
"This is Totsuki's competitive education. As the Academy's director would say, the "jewel" selection has genuinely begun." Isshiki added.
"So that means you went to this training camp last year, Isshiki-senpai?" Ariadne asked.
"Yes, of course. Even in my generation, every day dozens of students were forcibly sent home and expelled. It truly is severe." Isshiki replied.
"It seems that some years ago, the number of students was reduced to less than half after that training camp." Shun added.
At hearing this, Megumi fainted, Yuuki catching her before she could hit the floor. Ariadne, thought, was intrigued. She always did like a challenge, and, while severe, this was definitely a challenge. While the others were freaking out about the training camp, Souma and Ariadne were looking through the list of items they were and were not allowed to bring.
"I see, I see...you can bring card decks and shogi." Souma muttered.
"But no portable game consoles." Ariadne pointed out, looking over his shoulder. "But isn't that bath time a little too short?"
"Hey, hey...! Yukihira, Ari! Why are you so carelessly getting in trip mood? Megumi is even saying her last words!" Yuuki snapped at them.
"Megumi is not saying her last words. She's just letting her anxiety get the best of her." Ariadne replied, looking up from the booklet.
"Anyway, half will survive, right? We just have to be in that half." Souma added.
"I'm confident that we'll be fine." Ariadne assured Yuuki, turning her attention back to the booklet in Souma's hands.
Yuuki couldn't believe her ears. She glared at the two with a mix of anger and disbelief. Not that either of them saw the look directed their way.
"I'm confident too." Isshiki said, smiling as attention turned to him. "That all of the students in the Polar Star Dorm will come back here smiling. Leave the house-sitting to Fumio-san and me. You all should just do your best!"
"He's right." Ryoko agreed.
"You two can say pretty nice things." Yuuki remarked, getting fired up. "We of the Polar Star are so fearsome even kids stop crying!"
"Kids stop crying?" Shun asked.
"We'll clear that training camp with ease!" Yuuki added, ignoring him.
Ariadne didn't know about ease, but they would definitely try.
If only she had known what she was getting into.
END
Kyandi: I just realized, talking to a friend of mine who reads my stories...trying to say your name and Erina's, back to back, gets me all tongue tied.
Ariadne: I can see that. Then again, saying my name, period, gets you tongue tied sometimes.
Kyandi: I'm trying my best! You aren't the only character I have that their name trips me up.
Ariadne: I know, I know, now breathe.
Kyandi: I am. Anyway, I have a lot of work to do, today.
Ariadne: So we need to wrap this up?
Kyandi: Yes. Everyone, please enjoy and review.
Ariadne: We will return as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!