Kyandi: Hey, everyone!
Ariadne: We have returned.
Kyandi: And I laughed the entire time I was writing this chapter!
Ariadne: She finds my reactions and the reactions of others towards me, to be hilarious.
Kyandi: And they are. Just watch, the readers will agree.
Ariadne: I'm sure they will.
Kyandi: Wait...are you teasing me?
Ariadne: I don't know, am I?
Kyandi: ...Sometimes I wonder why I created you.
Ariadne To showcase the fun side of you.
Kyandi: I guess. Anyway, everything, please enjoy and review.
Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.
Chapter 4 Queen of Flirting
Over the next few days, everyone prepared themselves for the training camp. In the midst of their preparation, Ariadne ended up dancing through the front hall when half a dozen crates arrived for her from a villa in Marseille, France. Ariadne was able to get help from the boys to move the crates. The first four, which were filled with properly packed plants, went to her greenhouse, where Ariadne got to work setting them up where she wanted them.
The others were surprised by the plants she unpacked. There was everything from sugarcane, a cocoa tree, lavender, dianthus, thyme, several types of berries and many more. She had everything from spices, flowers, and more.
And, apparently...each plants had a special nickname.
After seeing Ariadne put a name card baring the name "Lindor" in front of her cocoa tree, Souma concluded that Ariadne, like the rest of their dorm mates, had her own...quirks.
The last two crates, though, were taken to Ariadne's room. As soon as she opened one, she quickly replaced the lid before any of them could see what was inside and shooed everyone out of the room. When they protested, Ariadne simply replied that it was a "family secret" and she couldn't let them see, before she apologized and closed the door in their faces.
Though they were curious, Ariadne wasn't in the sharing mood, leaving them to focus on their task of preparing for the training camp.
On the morning they were to leave for camp, Ariadne was awaken to Daigo and Shoji yelling at the top of their lungs because Isshiki had popped into their room to make sure they were up and going. Giving a shake of her head, Ariadne got out of bed, making her bed before she started changing. She had checked her bags the night before and was sure she had everything she would need.
Once dressed in her school uniform, deciding to tie her blazer around her waist, Ariadne grabbed her two bags and headed downstairs where her dorm mates were checking and double checking their things. About the only truly calm ones, aside from herself, was Souma and Shun.
Of course, no one was freaking out as badly as Zenji asked.
To Ariadne, it looked like the boy was about to pop a blood vessel, he was so worked up.
After making sure they had everything and bidding Isshiki and Fumio goodbye, they headed out to meet up with the rest of the first years. What they found was a ridiculous, bumper to bumper, line-up of luxury travel buses. Ariadne had to stop for a moment and blinking, trying to take it all in. She had known there were a lot of first years, but it still blew her mind to be reminded of just how many students there were, and how much money the school had to throw around.
Souma, though, didn't even seemed fazed. He stood at the head of their little group, a big grin on his face.
"Alright, let's go! To the Friendship and Rapport Hellish Training Camp!" he declared.
"I don't really think it was necessary to add that last part, Souma." Ariadne told him as they went to check their bags.
After handing their luggage over to be stowed away, they each went in search of seats. Ariadne ended up sitting next to Megumi, much to the other girl's relief. Mostly because Megumi knew Ariadne and it was better than sitting next to someone she really didn't know, but also because Ariadne had pack traveling snacks and the girl's cookies and muffins were the best Megumi had ever had.
The whole trip, the two chatted, laughed and snacked, Megumi tell Ariadne about the inn her family ran, Ariadne telling Megumi about the villa she had grown up in that over looked the Marseillian port. Megumi found out that Ariadne was actually the heiress of what she called a "small chain of adorable cafes". She wouldn't, however, tell Megumi the name of the place. It made Megumi wonder if was more popular than Ariadne was willing to admit.
When they arrived at their location, and got off the bus to look up at the building that would be the location of their training camp, Ariadne had to lean as far back as she could, shading her eyes, in order to see the top of the large building, a low whistle slipping free of her lips.
"If anyone else can think of any other word than gaudy for this usual display of money, I'm all ears." Ariadne remarked.
"As expected from a rich school. They even have a great hotel like this one." Souma said in agreement with Ariadne.
"Totsuki is the parent organization of all the hotels and ryokan of this area." Shun told them.
"What's a ryokan?" Ariadne asked.
"Its a traditional Japanese inn that typically features tatami-matted rooms, communal baths and most clients walk around in super soft yukata!" Yuuki explained.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm not surprised that a powerful and rich school like Totsuki oversees so much." Ariadne remarked.
"Dozens of inns are managed by a brand named "Totsuki Resort". There're a lot of cases of the Academy's graduates finding employment on the cooking department of these resorts." Shun added.
"You know, it is started to sound suspiciously like we are being groomed to work for Totsuki. Or, at least that that's what they want." Ariadne remarked, her hands going to her hips.
She wouldn't put it past a bit organization like Totsuki to do something like that. What better way to find quality employees than to raise and groom them themselves? Souma and the others agreed with her on that thought.
"Only during this season, they don't accept guests and they're used for the training camp. I've heard that, on normal days, on night cost eight thousand yen." Shun added.
Even Ariadne was choked by the amount. She turned wide eyes on Shun, unable to believe her ears.
"That's over six hundred and seventy euros! That about how much my siblings and I spend on our food budget alone for about ten days." Ariadne said shocked.
She couldn't imagine spending that amount of money on just a one night stay in a hotel, no matter how fancy it was.
"That's already the rent for one month!" Souma added.
"Ehh, we're really staying here!? I'm getting excited!" Yuuki cheered.
"Only if we can survive today's assignment." Shun retorted, raining on her parade.
"Ibusaki, you just whisper things that ruin the mood." Yuuki pouted.
"I'm a realist. Look...we have to gather soon." Shun replied.
Ariadne just smiled when Yuuki turned to complain to her. She gave Yuuki's a head a pat, but insisted that they follow the others, least they be left behind and end up in trouble. Yuuki continued to hang off her arm as they followed the other students to the banquet hall where they would await further instructions. There, they found one of the most tense and smothering atmospheres Ariadne had ever come across.
The room was dead silent, despite the number of teenagers present. Some sat quietly, jittery with nerves, others paced in their small little area, wearing footprints of worry into the rich carpet. It made Ariadne and her friends wonder just how many of the nearly one thousand students present, would survive the training camp.
It was then that the silence was broken by Souma, who had just caught sight of Mito.
"Oh! Isn't that Nikumi?" Souma called out, making Mito come to a screeching halt, her shoulders going stiff before she rounded on him. "It's been a while!"
"Hey, Yukihira! Why are you calling her using her nickname?!" Yuuki demanded.
"Eh, but I have her consent, right, Nikumi?" Souma replied.
"Like hell you have it!"
Ariadne clamped a hand over her mouth, hiding a smile and laugh as Mito snapped back at Souma, the boy giving her a clueless look. Ariadne's laugh trailed off, though, when she noticed the amount of eyes on Souma. After his declaration at the opening ceremony, Ariadne wasn't surprised that Souma had all the attention. People would be hoping, with all their might, that he failed during the training camp. She was surprised, however, when some of those looks and whispers, were directed at her. As far as she knew, she had been pleasant and not insulting in the least during her introduction.
Right?
Ariadne was just starting to ponder this, when a sudden voice over a mic, drew her attention to the stage at the head of the banquet hall. There, mic in hand, stood Chef Chapelle.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Pay attention to the stage. I'm going to explain the outline of this training camp." Chef Chapelle told them. "It's scheduled to be five nights and six days. Every day, you'll be given an assignment related to cooking, the contents of these assignments vary every year. On the first day, the nine hundred and eighty students will be separated into twenty groups. After this explanation is done, each of you must go to the place you're appointed to. If the lecturers' evaluation for a students goes below a certain line, that student is disqualified. Those students will be forcibly sent home on board the buses that go to the academy and they will be expelled."
It seemed harsh, but Ariadne had already known that they would start working down the number of students. She supposed this was a good way to go about it. It certainly got them away from the school where the teachers could focus on them and them alone.
"About the judging," Chef Chapelle continued. "We invited guest lecturers. As busy as they are, they gathered here just for today. They're Totsuki Academy's alumni."
Out onto the stage came a stream of people. Though she didn't recognize all of them, some of them were big enough names that even Ariadne knew who they were. One in particular, who was a famous chef in France. It was that very same chef, that came to a stop, raising his nose to the air to give it a whiff.
"Hmm...you on the ninth line starting from the front, the boy with the scar on the eyebrow." he called.
Souma, who easy fit the vague description, pointed to himself in questioning, unsure what he could have done to draw attention so soon.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, the one next to him. That's right, you." the man said, fixing his eyes on the boy to Souma's right. "You're expelled. You may go home."
"What?!"
Everyone turned to the boy as he yelled out in shock. He no more understood why than anyone around him did. The man, a renowned chef by the name of Shinomiya Kojirou, decided to have mercy and explain why.
"Your hairdressing product has a citrus smell, that may overshadow the food's aroma. Being stylish is a must, if the person who makes food is out of fashion the food won't have any sensuality. But, starting next time you should pick a scent-free hair liquid." Shinomiya told the boy.
"Wa...wait, please! What...expelled!? Just because of thi-"
The boy was cut off as Shinomiya turned one of the iciest looks Ariadne had ever seen on him.
"You can lose clients just because of that. Do you want to shut down my shop?" Shinomiya demanded, dismissing the boy with a wave of his hand.
Ariadne felt bad for the boy, but it wasn't like she could really say anything. Not that she really knew what to say anyhow.
Aside from Shinomiya, there were other top class chefs, like Mizuhara Fuyumi who owned an Italian restaurant, Sekimori Hiyoshi who was strictly about sushi, and Auberge "Tesoro" Donato Gotouda who instantly zeroed in on Megumi standing beside Ariadne.
"I might have been born to meet you. Don't you want to talk all night in my Auberge?" he asked Megumi, taking her hand in both of his.
"Excusez-moi, Chef, but she really can't at the moment." Ariadne said, wrapping an arm around Megumi while giving the man a politely smile, trying to save her friend from an obviously embarrassing situation.
Thankfully, another chef stepped in, this one being a woman by the name Inui Hinako. If Ariadne had to describe the woman's appearance in one word, it would be "motherly". She pushed Chef Gotouda away from Megumi and Ariadne, taking one of Megumi's hands in both of hers, before leaning close to her.
"I'm sorry...he made you have a scary experience. By the way, you're cute. Ah...you look very filling..." Chef Inui told Megumi.
Ariadne had to fight not to pout. She had never considered that she would have to defend adorable Megumi from a woman. Then Chef Inui's eyes turned to Ariadne and, in the next moment, Ariadne found her cheek being cupped by the older woman.
"Oh, my! You're adorable, too! So sweet I could just eat you." Chef Inui told her.
So she was flirting with Ariadne.
Well, Ariadne would never let it be said that she couldn't play that game, too.
Putting the sultry smile she possessed on her face, Ariadne let her eyes fall to half mast as she leaned her cheek into Chef Inui's hand. It surprised the older woman, but nowhere near as much as what came out of Ariadne's mouth next.
"Oh, I'm sweet alright...a sweet disaster. And you shouldn't make suggestions that you can't keep." Ariadne purred lowly, enjoying the shocked looks that fell on both Megumi's and Chef Inui's faces. Apparently Chef Inui never expected either of them to flirt back. Pulling her cheek away from a stunned Chef Inui's hand, Ariadne expertly shifted her sultry grin for a sweet, innocent one, raising her voice back to normal levels. "You might want to go now, Madam Chef. Chef Chapelle is glaring at you from the stage."
That finally snapped Chef Inui out of her surprise, the woman giving the two girls a smile before turning to head back to the stage.
"Come to my shop one of these days!" she called to Ariadne and Megumi, Ariadne giving her a smile and wave before dropping a hand on top of a red-in-the-face Megumi.
"And that, moi amie, is how you handle the unsolicited flirting of another." Ariadne told Megumi, giving her head a pat before refocusing her attention forward.
She missed the look Megumi turned on her, the nervous girl clearly thinking, "But how do I handle you.". Ariadne, on the other hand, focused in on the stage as another chef, another that Ariadne actually knew, stepped out on stage.
General Head Chef and member of the Board of Directors for Totsuki Resort, Chef Doujima Gin.
As the person who had passed Totsuki's graduation exam with the highest marks since the founding of the school, it was hard for Ariadne not to know who he was. She was both amazed and intrigued to see the man in person. Chef Chapelle handed the microphone over to Doujima then.
"Welcome to Totsuki Resort. The alumni that gathered today are all chefs that have their own shops. For the six days of this training camp, they will be treating you s if you were employees at their shops. Do you understand what this means? People whose work can't satisfy us are fired." Doujima told them, slashing a thumb across the front of his throat. "As you could see, you may be forced to leave immediately depending on the lecturers' discretion. I wish you the best of luck! Well then, start moving!"
"Well, you heard the man." Ariadne remarked, turning to her friends.
"Yep! See you!" Yuuki called, heading off in one direction.
"Yeah." Shun agreed, heading in the opposite direction.
"Yeah! We're having a card tournament at Marui's room tonight!" Souma called, following Ariadne and Megumi.
"We don't have to gather in my room even in times like this, right?" Zenji called, but everyone had already gone their separate ways.
Ariadne, Souma, and Megumi changed and found that they had ended up in the same group, much to Megumi's relief, because it put her with Souma as a partner once more. Ariadne ended up with the same partner as her first day in Chef Chapelle's class, putting her with a boy name Kirimatsu. Kirimatsu stood back while Ariadne stood with Souma as Megumi came running towards him, eyes bright with unshed tears.
"I'm glad...I'm together with Souma-kun." Megumi cried.
"Yeah! Let's do our best." Souma agreed, turning his eyes to Ariadne. "You good with your partner, Ari?"
"Oh, yeah! He's a good guy and can keep up with my spur-of-the-moment requests." Ariadne replied, her partner going red in the face behind her.
He hadn't expected her to compliment him.
"You're Yukihira Souma...right?"
Souma and Ariadne turned as someone else putted into their conversation. The slight accent told Ariadne that he wasn't Japanese way before his naturally blonde hair did. The boy wore a smile on his face as he approached them, but when Souma confirmed who he was, the boy suddenly drove a heel down on the toes of Souma's left foot, giving it a few twists for good measure. It surprised Souma, but the boy merely shoved his hands in his pockets and gave the blond boy a cocky-looking smile.
"You grinded for over ten seconds...I can assume it was on purpose, right?" Souma asked.
"Naturally. I expected that we would be together sometime during this training camp, but I never thought it would be on the first assignment. I'll crush you flat! Just like I crushed your shoe!" the boy declared.
Talk about a challenge out of left field. Ariadne hadn't been expecting something like this right from the start. Then again, it was Souma being challenged and the boy, as she had stated before, had a way of rubbing people the wrong way. Seeing the tense, sharp looks between Souma and the blond, Megumi grew anxious.
"Umm...this training campus difficult as it is, so i-it isn't time to be fighting." Megumi tried to tell them, but they weren't listening.
"I'm so happy I can finally crush you, Yukihira Souma!" the blond insisted.
"Is that so? That's good for you! I got that you're picking a fight with me, so can you move your foot!" Souma retorted.
Ariadne heaved a sigh, shaking her head lightly at the folly of the two. Thankfully, their glaring contest was interrupted when their lecturer, Chef Inui, suddenly spoke from where she sat at the front of the room, a try of tea beside her.
"Okay, then everyone, I'll be sitting here so, if there's anything you don't understand about the assignment, go ahead and ask." she told them all as she opened a bag of kaki seeds.
"Alright. How about we start with the obvious question...what is our assignment, Chef Inui?" Ariadne asked, the others agreeing. "You have yet to give us one."
"Ah...is that so? Then, I must explain!" Chef Inui got to her feet and gestured to a window through which they could see the mountain and field scenery outside. "My assignment is use the ingredients you can find here to make any Japanese cuisine main dish!"
"'Here'? There are no ingredients anywh-"
"But they are there. The splendorous nature, the clear stream goes by, is a wonderful treasury of ingredients." Chef Inui said, cutting off the girl speaking.
Ariadne suddenly understand what the chef was getting at.
They had to hunt down their own ingredients.
"The area that contains this building has been Totsuki Academy's private land since ancient times, and it's surrounded by a fence. If you go past that fence you're immediately disqualified. You must gather ingredients inside this limited area and cook them. If you can make a dish that can satisfy me, you pass!" Chef Inui announced. That was just what Ariadne had thought. "This room has seasonings, oil, and cookware. you can also freely use the tools like fishing rods that are inside the storehouse. The time limit is two hours! Well then, ready, set, go."
All around Ariadne, people begun to freak out, all of them instantly starting to wonder what fish would be in season and what they could make from that. Ariadne was lost in thought when another boy, wearing the same chef's outfit as the blond who stepped on Souma's foot, joined the blond. He was taller, bigger, and dark haired verses blond, but Ariadne wondered if they were related.
"Oooo...hey there, big boy." Ariadne greeted, smile on her face.
She gave the boy a wink and a click of her tongue when he looked down at her, and enjoyed the resulting red stain to his cheeks. Appearances and things like being over-weight, had never mattered to Ariadne. In fact, she actually found his big size to be kind of cute.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Isami Aldini."
Ariadne blinked in surprise when, unlike everyone around them, including herself when she was speaking to a native Japanese speaker, he introduced himself with his given name first. That only confirmed that the two weren't from Japan, despite the Japanese sounding given name.
"Ariadne Sinclair. Call me Ari."
The two smiled at each other, getting along better than a certain other two. The blond, however, ignored her completely.
"Let's have a match, Yukihira." he told Souma.
"A match, you say?" Souma asked.
"Let's see who is better. Chef Inui!" The blond turned towards the woman. "I'd like you to make the final decision for this! Which of our dishes is a true delicacy. Please judge it impartially!"
"Eh...why? It's not related to the assignment so I don't want to." Chef Inui replied.
Ariadne had to slap a hand over her mouth, stifling the urge to laugh out loud. The slight trembling that set into the boy's boy, mixed with the blush that reached back to his ears, was evidence enough that he was embarrassed beyond belief. Souma couldn't let it slide either.
"Hey, hey, what are you going to do about this?" Souma demanded, snickering. "The mood got awkward because you got too excited."
To make matters worse, the big, dark haired boy with the blond, starting laughing too, tears streaming from his eyes at how hard he was laughing.
"So uncool! You're so uncool, nii-chan!" he gasped, still laughing.
So they are related. Brothers, huh?
Ignoring his brother's laughter, the blond turned back to Souma, pointing a finger at him.
"Anyway! I definitely won't lose to you! I'll make a dish that is better than yours! Do you understand, Yukihiraaaaa!"
Ariadne waved as Isami dragged his brother away. With that, Ariadne bid Souma and Megumi good luck and turned to her partner, who was already making his way to the storehouse to get a fishing rod.
"Hold it right there." Ariadne told him, grabbing hold of his collar to pull him to a stop. "Where are you off to, Kirimatsu?"
"We have to get a move on and catch some fish." he replied.
"Yeah, we're not going with fish. Everyone else will be going with fish." Ariadne replied.
"Then what are we suppose to do?" Kirimatsu asked.
"There's a mountain and fields out there. There's bound to be more than just fish. First, we go have a look at what other kinds of things we can find. Then we'll decide from there." Ariadne told him.
With a nod, he followed her outside, where they quickly went about exploring. In just twenty minutes, they came across ducks, chickens, even rabbits. Standing at a distance, watching as some ducks swam by in the river nearby, and a couple of fat and juicy rabbits bounced on by, Ariadne stopped to think, arms crossed.
They were suppose to use what they could find to make a Japanese dish.
Then it hit Ariadne.
"Kirimatsu, I have a couple of things I want you to check on back in the storehouse and kitchen." Ariadne said, turning to her partner with a grin on her face.
She sent her partner back to the building with a list of things to look for. When he came back with a positive on just about everything she had asked for, Ariadne knew what they were going to make. Kirimatsu watched, with wide eyes as Ariadne set a handmade trap to catch what they needed before killing it. Ariadne loaded it up in a bucket to be carried.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Kirimatsu asked.
"My older brother. He use to make traps like that all the time. He taught me how to, as well. Now, while we're out here, we're going to have to find the nest of one of those chickens. We'll need, at least, five eggs. Keep an eye out for wild onions, and any leafy greens we can use." Ariadne told him.
"Will we have enough time to make a stock, though?" Kirimatsu added.
"To be honest, ideally, I would shimmer a broth for twenty-four hours in order to draw out as much flavor as possible, but there is a way to still get a nice stock with only a short amount of time. Leave that to me." Ariadne told him.
With that said, they went in search of chickens. When they found where the chickens were making their next, Kirimatsu drew the birds' attention while Ariadne grabbed the eggs she would need. After escaping the angry birds, they were able to find the onions and greens they would be using and retreated back to the kitchen, running into Souma, Megumi, and the Aldini brothers outside the door.
"Hey, Souma, Megumi!" Ariadne called.
"Hey, find all you need?" Souma asked.
"Sure did." Ariadne replied, both turning as the Aldini brothers approached them.
Souma's mouth twisted into a grin before he repeated the embarrassing "judge it impartially" line from earlier, the older brother, Takumi, going red all over again.
"Silence! Silence, I say!" Takumi snapped as they made their way inside, catching sight of the fish in Souma's bucket along the way. "Hmph! You're using fish too? Good grief, all of you. Cooking fish just because the theme is Japanese food, isn't your way of thinking too narrow?"
Several turned to look at Takumi as he spoke with contempt.
"What's with you? Getting all cocky, then, what are you..."
Souma trailed off when, out of his bucket, Takumi withdrew an already beheaded and plucked duck.
"Is that an aigamo?" Ariadne asked, Takumi nodded.
Ariadne had seen the ducks, but she hadn't expected someone to go after them, much less succeed in catching, killing, and plucking one.
"There weren't just Aigamo...there were rabbits and chicken too, you know? It's weird that no one even tried to search for them!" Takumi gloated.
"You shouldn't rush to such rash assumptions."
Everyone turned to a grinning Ariadne as she pulled a rabbit and a smaller chicken out of her bucket, dangling them from the piece of twain that tied their feet together. Chatter rose from the others as Ariadne's lips quirked up further into a grin.
"She did say we could use any ingredients we could find, right? I'll assume that applies to anything we can catch, gather, or...anything we brought with us. Good thing I never leave home without something to inspire ideas." Ariadne said. "You'd be surprised what we found when we started looking around. Kirimatsu, if you would go retrieve what I asked for from the back of the storehouse."
Ariadne's partner took off, Ariadne giving Takumi a wink before she returned to her station. She would leave Takumi and Souma to duke it out in whatever fashion they pleased. If she wanted to finish her dish in time, then she needed to get started. Ignoring everyone around her, Ariadne got to work on breaking down the rabbit and chicken.
She started with the chicken, working it down until she had the bones and neck sitting to one side. Taking the wild onion they had picked, she chopped it up and roasted it along with the bones and neck. While that was going, she found a pressure cooker, adding in water, the skins of her onions, and some parsley and the tops of some celery they had found.
Whispers spreading through the students, had Ariadne looking up. Kirimatsu was hurrying her way, carrying a small bag of flour he had found in the storehouse. Ariadne had count herself lucky that he had found it and would be even more grateful if it was enough to make what she needed.
"Good job!" Ariadne told him as he joined her. "Alright, grab the salt, an egg, water and canola oil and start on the noodles. I'll finish up this stock."
Kirimatsu nodded, getting to work on making noddles from scratch. The recipe she had given him for the noddle, would take thirty minutes. Using the pressure cooker, it would take a little over an hour to make the chicken stock. With an hour and a half left in their time, Ariadne was sure they would make it. With that in mind, she took the now roasted bones, onion, and chicken neck and put them in the pressure cooker, setting the timer. Before she started it, Ariadne went to the case she had brought in with her, opening it to pull out an unmarked bottle filled with a cherry red liquid. She added a touch of the liquid before returning the bottle to the case and starting the pressure cooker.
"What was that?" Kirimatsu asked.
"Don't worry about it." When he gave her an unsure look, Ariadne smiled back. "You trusted me before and we passed, no?"
"Yeah..."
"Then trust me now."
Heaving a sigh, Kirimatsu left it at that, turning back to his work.
Ariadne herself moved on to filleting the rabbit, removing sinew before hand and then soft boiling some eggs. Once the meat and eggs were cooking, Ariadne glanced over the seasonings and wild vegetables they had. Soy sauce, ginger, red chili powder, and sesame oil from the kitchen, and some garlic they had found growing wild. There was only one thing missing.
"Hey, Kirimatsu, are you almost done with the noodles?" she called.
"They just need to sit for twenty minutes. Why?"
"I want you to go back out and see if you can find any kind of cabbage. I would prefer pak choy, if you can find it." Ariadne told him.
"Got it."
Ariadne turned back to what she was doing, hoping he could find something. She completely ignored everything going on around her, tuning out the continuing competition between Souma and Takumi. When Kirimatsu returned, Ariadne over joyed he had managed to find a few stalks of pak choy. They weren't very big, but they were healthy, leafy, and perfectly enough for what they needed.
"Alright, we're going to need to braise those." Ariadne told him.
Kirimatsu got to work doing as she instructed. Aside from exchanging questions and instructions, the two didn't speak much, just worked. As the time ticked away, Ariadne started compiling the individual parts of their dish together. Just fifteen minutes short of their time running out, Ariadne plated their dish. She made it to Chef Inui before Souma did, presenting the dish with a smile.
"Please enjoy, Chef Inui." she said.
Silence fell around them as Chef Inui looked down at the bowl sitting before her.
"Oh! What is this?" Chef Inui asked.
"Japanese Rabbit and Noodles." Ariadne replied. "Please, take a bite."
Chef Inui, glad for a change from the constant fish everyone had been feeding her, picked up her chopsticks. Ariadne, hands clasped behind her back, waited with a smile on her face. Almost as soon as the flavor touched her tongue, Chef Inui let out a gasp of surprise, a low hum following as she savored the rich flavor that danced across her taste buds, a sweet kick following in it's wake.
"My goodness! It's positively delicious! And what is this sweetness I'm getting?" Chef Inui asked.
"That is a mix of the pak choy we used and a little something special I added. When you braise pak choy before adding it to a dish, it helps to release a nice sweetness from it." Ariadne replied.
"That the special add-in you spoke off?" Chef Inui asked.
"That's a secret, I'm afraid. An old family secret that I always carry with me." Ariadne replied.
"That's cheating!" one boy called from behind her.
"Actually, no, it's not. Chef Inui said we could use anything we could find within the fenced area. My little secret weapon technically classifies as something you can find within the fenced area. I merely took advantage of the vagueness of her words." Ariadne replied, giving the boy a smile.
Seeing her point, especially when Chef Inui didn't argue against it, the boy fell silent. Ariadne smiled and turned back to Chef Inui.
"I took as much advantage of your lack of details as I could. We found a partial bag of flour in the storehouse, which we used to make our noodles, took advantage of the wild onion, cabbage, garlic and greens we found, and even pilfered a chicken's nest after killing it for eggs."
"And what did you use to make this rich chicken stock?" Chef Inui asked.
"We took the bones and neck of the chicken we killed, roasted it with chopped onion, and then put that, the onion skins, and a few other ingredients in a pressure cooker I found among the cooking ware. All the flavor of a slow-simmered stock in a fraction of the time."
"Brilliant! The rabbit fillets are tender and juicy, the broth has a wonderful rich and subtly sweet flavor, the noodles are firm, but not too much so, and all of the vegetables compliment each other without being over powered by each other. You two pass!" Chef Inui told them.
"Merci!"
Kirimatsu gave a pump of his fist, grateful, once more, that he had been paired with Ariadne. Ariadne gave Chef Inui a polite bow, the woman swiping up her hand before Ariadne could move out of reach.
"You don't need to bow, my dear, and what slender fingers you have." Chef Inui said, examining Ariadne's fingers.
She's going to make us go through this again?
Heaving an inward sigh, Ariadne twisted her hand around until she was the one that gripped Chef Inui's hand. Shifting her eyes up to peer at Chef Inui's face through the ring of her lashes, Ariadne raised the hand to her mouth, bowing over it to place a chaste kiss on Chef Inui's knuckles. Raising her face, she gave the older woman a smile.
"All the better to cook deliciously sweet dishes for you, Chef Inui. Now, if you'll excuse me, others wish to present you with their dishes."
With that, Ariadne released her hand and turned on her heel, walking away. She passed a couple of boys whispering about her display of flirting. She met their gazes and gave them a wink, her lips curling up into a playful grin. She walked away, silently laughing to herself when the two blushed.
Sometimes it was just too much fun to be bisexual. She could flirt with either gender and it be remain a mystery on whether or not she truly mean it. Watching the reactions she got, only made it even more fun.
With the help of her partner, Ariadne went about cleaning up her station, watching from there as Souma and Megumi presented their dish of deep-fried fish and garnish.
Ariadne had to grip the counter to keep from falling to the floor in a fit of laughter when, after receiving a call from a very angry Shinomiya, Inui called an abrupt end to trying to decide who won between Takumi and Souma, and fled the room.
To make matters worse, Takumi made a big dramatic show of promising Souma that he would challenge him to a Food War someday before telling Souma, "Let us meet again, Yukihira Souma", only for the two of them to end up sitting beside each other on the bus. Ariadne was curled forward in her seat, forehead pressed to the seat in front of her as she tried to keep a rein on her laughter. As Souma teased Takumi, though, Ariadne wasn't the only one laughing, Isami joining her in the merriment.
"Stop laughing, the both of you!" Takumi demanded.
Ariadne leaned forward, between his and Souma's seat, meeting Takumi's eyes with a sultry grin on her face. Souma already knew where this was going and barely kept from laughing as Takumi's eyes zeroed in on Ariadne's face.
"Aw, don't be so sensitive. We're only teasing you a little. If you don't like it, I can think of much better ways to tease you." Ariadne purred, a single finger ghosting over the sleeve covering Takumi's arm.
Ariadne pulled her hand back when Takumi lost it. Had it been one of the many animes Ariadne had watched with her little sister, smoke would have billowed up from his collar as his face went red all the way up to the roots of his hair.
Well...the latter happened, at least.
"My, my! What is wrong? I merely meant that we could tease you about another topic." Ariadne said, batting her eyelashes in an innocent way. "Why people always seem to misunderstand, I will never know. It wasn't like I meant it in an inappropriate way."
With that, Ariadne ducked back between the seats, Souma leaning to the side to look back at the silently grinning French girl as she crossed her legs. While he hadn't known her for long, Souma was sure about one thing.
She had meant for Takumi to take her words exactly as he had.
Living with Ariadne was going to be quite the ride.
END
Ariadne: Am I really that bad of a flirt?
Kyandi: Depends in what context you're asking the question.
Ariadne: Let me rephrase...Do I really flirt that much?
Kyandi: Sometimes. Sometimes, you only do it in response to someone else's flirting. Either way, it's funny.
Ariadne: At least I have better pick-up lines and flirting skills than your sister.
Kyandi: Yeah...she's a train wreck with flirting.
Ariadne: Then again, so is my brother.
Kyandi: Where do you think I got it from?
Ariadne: Oh! Nice.
Kyandi: Anyway, let's move on. I have another story to update. Everyone, please enjoy and review.
Ariadne: We will be back as soon as possible!
Kyandi: Bye-bye!
Ariadne: