Kyandi: Hey, Kyandiacs!
Ariadne: We're back with another chapter for all of you.
Kyandi: This one is a little on the longer side, simply because I didn't want to have to split this into two chapters.
Ariadne: She's ready to get on to the Autumn Selection.
Kyandi: Yes, I am! I'm actually ready to get on past the Autumn Selection, but one step at a time.
Ariadne: Exactly.
Kyandi: So, everyone, please enjoy and review.
Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Soma.
Chapter 8 A Chicken Holiday
After returning home to the Polar Star dorm, Ariadne was happy to switch from their winter uniforms to their summer uniforms. She had never been much of a fan of long sleeves, hence the modifications she had made to her winter uniform.
Modifications that carried over into her summer uniform as well.
A few weeks after the training camp, Ariadne and the other students, found themselves with a nice long break. Many students were taking this chance to either go on little trips with their research societies, like Megumi was, or to go home. Today found Ariadne sitting in the lobby of the dorm, helping Megumi to check off her packing list when Isshiki and Souma walked in the door, talking.
"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" Isshiki asked Souma.
"Weekend?" Souma asked.
"Several classes get suspended due to events related to the academy's administration around this time. If you include the weekend, you basically get a string of holidays. That's why a lot of students use it to go on trips or go back home. Look...it seems she's packing already." Isshiki said, gesturing to where Ariadne was helping Megumi pack.
"Oh, Tadokoro! Where are you going? A trip?" Souma asked.
"This is part of the Local Cuisine Research Society's activities. The plan's to go to various regions and check out their ingredients and seasonings! Ari's helping me pack." Megumi told him.
"Sounds interesting." Souma told her, turning to Isshiki. "Isshiki-senpai, what are you going to do?"
"I have to work on the Polar Star plantation. Yoshino-kun will also stay to take care of the animals." Isshiki replied.
"And you, Ari?" Souma asked.
"I had hoped to visit home, even if for a short while, but Taliyah is going on a summer trip with her classmates and Dante is acting as a chaperone, so it's not like there will be anyone home, anyway. So I'm staying here." Ariadne replied.
"What about your parents?" Souma asked.
The expression that came over Ariadne's face, was answer enough. They watched as her smile wavered, vanishing for a moment, before she plastered it back on her face and gave them a big smile that was obviously fake, before she geared the subject in a different direction.
"Anyway, you're going to go back home and air out Yukihira, right?" Ariadne asked.
"Uh, yeah, I guess I will. I need to do maintenance and air it out every once in a while and I haven't been back since transferring here." Souma replied.
"Well, if you want some help with that, I'm pretty handy." Ari offered, handing a stack of clothes to Megumi for the girl to pack away.
"Alright, great! If you're sure." Souma replied.
"Yeah. My greenhouse will be fine without me for a short while, and I'd like to see where you grew up. I'm curious." Ariadne replied.
With the plan set, the two agreed that they would head out the next day.
-0-0-0-0-
"So this is Yukihira?"
Ariadne looked up at the building before her. It was a nice, quaint, little building on a street lined with shops. Ariadne could see it being a busy place in the highlight of business hours. Especially after school hours when student were heading home.
"Yeah. Come on inside." Souma told her, leading the way in.
Hiking her bag up on her shoulder, Ariadne followed Souma into the building. The door they came in through, leading them into a storage room off the kitchen. While Souma closed the door behind them, Ariadne carried on into the kitchen, her eyes sweeping over the place.
"What do you think?" Souma asked, pride obvious in his voice.
"Definitely has the feel of a family place. I like it." Ariadne replied, smile on her face.
Grinning with pride, Souma moved past her and towards the portion of the building that served as the Yukihira homestead.
"We got a spare room you can use, but you'll probably have to air it out." he told her, leading the way.
"That's fine. The whole building looks like it could use some airing out." Ariadne replied, following him.
"Yeah, it does. I'll get to that while you get settled." Souma told her, gesturing to the door leading to the room she was going to be using.
"Thanks, Souma. For indulging my whim and all."
"Hey, I get it. You can't go home to see your family." Souma replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Having something to do is better than nothing."
"Right."
Souma gave her a nod and headed back to the shop, leaving Ariadne to get settled. The room was simple and bare save for a bed, nightstand, and dresser. Ariadne dropped her bag on the bed and went to the window, opening it to let the dusty room air out.
The two of them would stay there for a few days, giving them the chance to relax after everything at school. Ariadne was looking forward to Souma showing her around the shopping district he called home. She hadn't gotten to do much local shopping since entering Totsuki, and couldn't help but wonder if the shopping district they were now in the middle of, was anything like the ones back home.
Ariadne was leaning on the sill of the window, staring out at the district while thinking of home when she heard a sudden yell of Souma's name from the front of the shop. Shocked and curious, Ariadne flew out of the room and through the building. She reached the now open front of the shop to find Souma surrounded by some old, middle school friends. Souma caught sight of her as she came to a stop in the doorway.
"Oh, hey, Ari. Sorry if we disturbed you." Souma told her, grinning sheepishly and making his friends turn to her.
"No, it's alright. Are these your friends?" Ariadne asked, giving the four a smile.
One of the two boys, an obvious flirt, just about started drooling at the sight of Ariadne in the halter top, thigh-length, dark blue dress she was wearing that made no effort to hide her figure. He instantly introduced himself and started flirting, asking who she was.
"I'm a classmate of Souma's." Ariadne told him.
"Yeah, this is Sinclair Ariadne. She's from France and lives in the same dorm as me." Souma told his friends.
"Oh? Is she your girlfriend?" one of the girls asked while the second girl, a smaller girl with a cute bob haircut, freaked out in the background.
"Sorry, but no. Souma isn't my type. Now, this little cutie," Ariadne, before the other girl could react, slide up beside the nervous acting girl, Kurase Mayumi, and gave her grin as she tilted the other girl's head back with a single finger under her chin. "Is completely my type."
Ariadne couldn't help but grin as the girl freaked out, unsure of how to deal with this while her friends all gaped, open-mouthed at Ariadne.
"She's joking, right, Yukihira?" one of the boys asked.
"No one can ever tell with Ari." Souma replied simply, shrugging his shoulders, as if he had long since accepted that this was just how Ariadne was.
Which was pretty much the case.
Just then, there was a yell of, "Yukihira is open?!", making all of them turn as a group of people started to form. Many adults came rushing up to Souma, begging him to make them something since they had missed the food from Yukihira's.
"Alright! Wait a sec! I'll get some ingredients right away! Restaurant Yukihira will reopen for a short while! Ari, come help me." Souma called, already tying on his apron.
"Sure!" Ariadne called, giving Mayumi a wink before hurrying after Souma.
While Souma took to the kitchen, tossing an apron out to Ariadne, who easily caught it and tied it over her clothes, Ariadne went about taking orders, calling them to Souma as he got to work cooking. As word spread through the district that Souma had reopened the restaurant, the tables begin to fill up. Souma left Ariadne to run the dinning room while he cooked, the girl getting along easily with the neighbors he had grown up with.
Then again, that was Ariadne.
When the girl wasn't trying to tease the patience out of a person, she was actually quite the people person. And she worked fast. She moved about the restaurant like she had been working there for years, taking orders and serving food with a smile on her face. Souma was happy enough to leave the serving, table clearing, and order taking all to her.
It was when Souma was seeing off one customer that he noticed something.
"Aren't the streets kind of empty today? It's usually a lot more crowded at this time of the day..." Souma turned towards one of the last table of customers where three men sat, all three now hanging their heads in gloom. "Hm...what's wrong, young gentlemen of the shopping district?"
"Is...Is huge capital that important!?"
Ariadne, who had been cleaning the next table over, jumped when one of the men suddenly yelled and had to jump forward to save two plates she nearly dropped. She managed to catch the plates before they could fall to the ground and break. The man, who introduced himself as Tomita, apologized for startling her. Once he calmed down, he explained to Souma and Ariadne what was going on in the district.
"Exactly one month ago, the station's commercial area opened after it's renewal. Those "in-station stores"." Tomita told them.
"In-station stores...its a really good type of store if you want to cater to people rushing to catch their train." Ariadne remarked.
"Exactly. Our station has clothes stores and many other shops, but after all is said and done, the main attraction are the deli brands! The "karaage" that has an especially good reputation, is part of a chain that has won first place for three years running in the All Japan Karaage Convention! As a result, they completely ignore the shopping district. The number of clients just goes down. My bento shop's sales have been dropping dramatically! At this rate, I don't know how long I'll be able to keep the shop..." Tomita told them, in tears.
"Really? This isn't time to be eating so carelessly then." Souma told him, even as the man requested seconds.
"Moreover, there's a karaage boom right now." This came from the second girl that had shown up with Souma's friends, Koganei Aki. "I saw on the TV that the number of shops specialized on karaage are increasing in Kanto."
"Well...it's just how the times go." one of the other men said.
"The shopping district's already done for." added the third.
"I don't know about that." Everyone turned to look at Ariadne as she stacked another plate up in her arms. She gave them all a bright smile before turning to Souma. "Souma?"
"Yeah. We'll try to do something about it." Souma agreed, the two teenagers getting weird looks from the men. "You said their main force is karaage, right? We'll make a new karaage that'll rival it in this shopping district!"
"No way...that's reckless, Souma-chan." Tomita insisted. "The difference in appeal and capital is obvious. The opponent is just too strong."
"It's better than doing nothing. And clients are greedy. If it's a really good thing, they'll definitely find it. As part of Yukihira, I can't let this place become deserted. Let's steal the clients back with a new karaage and revive the shopping district!" Souma declared, the others cheering along with him. "Alright! I'll use this holiday to it's fullest and make the best dish! You in, Ari?"
"Of course, I am. You know me," Ariadne gave Souma a grin over her shoulder as she carried dishes towards the kitchen. "I'm always up for a challenge. We'll have to get more ingredients and run some trial dishes."
With just that comment, Souma and Ariadne begun running through a verbal list of things they would have to get so they could start their trial dishes, the two comparing ideas on seasoning for breading and other things. Only Aki butting in, broke the two up.
"Hey, Yukihira, shouldn't you two have a taste tester?" Aki asked before shoving Mayumi towards Souma. "She isn't in any club so she had free time and I'm sure she's a great taste tester!"
"Oh! Then, sorry, but we'll be counting on you, Kurase!" Souma replied, oblivious to what was actually going on.
While Mayumi blushed and stumbled on over her words, Ariadne turned towards Aki, lowering her voice so that only Aki could hear.
"She likes Souma, doesn't she?" Ariadne asked.
"Yeah." Aki replied.
"I see..."
Aki turned to look at Ariadne, who was grinning to herself, the look on her face suggesting that there were some mischievous plans cooking up in her brain. Ariadne gave Aki a large grin before turning towards Souma who had been talking to Mayumi.
"Now that we have dear Kurase's help, I think we should check out the competition's dish first. See what we're up against. It'll help us with deciding on how to proceed with our dish." Ariadne said.
"You're right. I've made karaage a few times here, but it's like the training camp's buffet assignment. We might need some special knowledge about side dishes." Souma replied, thinking.
"Well, if it chicken meat we're talking about, I can think of one person we can call for help." Ariadne suggested.
Souma could only think of one person Ariadne could be talking about.
This was going to be interesting.
-0-0-0-0-
"Ikumi!"
The next morning, Mito arrived at Yukihira's and was nearly bowled over as Ariadne.
Ariadne came flying out the door of Yukihira's today dressed in a skin tight, sleeveless, cropped, red turtle neck top with a even more cropped, black halter top tied over it, short jean shorts, red thigh-high stockings, and black ankle boots. The French girl instantly threw her arms around Mito's neck, greeting her with a chaste kiss on each cheek.
"Yukihira didn't tell me that you were here, Sinclair." Mito managed to get out.
"Please, call me Ari. I wasn't able to go home and see my family for the holiday, so Souma asked if I wanted to come with him and see the shopping district here." Ariadne told her, taking her by the hand to lead her into the shop. "Souma, Ikumi's here!"
Souma was standing near the bar, Mayumi at his side. At the sight of Mito, Mayumi's jaw dropped and the girl froze on the spot. She had thought Ariadne stunning, when she had first met the girl, but Mito was equally so. Mayumi couldn't help but wonder just how many well-endowed, pretty girls Souma went to school with now.
Souma, ever oblivious to the thoughts and feelings of those around him, turned to Mayumi to introduce her to Mito.
"Thisi s my classmate from middle school, Kurase! Ari and I asked her to taste the dish." Souma told Mito. "And she's my classmate from high school, call her Nikumi-"
"Don't spread that nickname around! I'll kill you!" Mito snapped.
Mito had been disappointed when she had found out that Ariadne was there, but she had understood what had led to the French girl's presence, but add in the presence of an old middle school friend and Mito's disappointed rose. Though she tried to deny that she felt disappointed at all.
Ariadne was just finding the whole tension between Mayumi and Mito, and Souma's obliviousness to it all, to be hilarious.
"Well...! Now that we have everyone in position, let's go observe the enemy for the Karaage Battle!" Souma declared.
Souma lead the way to the train station. When they arrived, they found the place to be extremely busy, people rushing back and forth.
"It's true! It looks really neat now. These are the in-station stores. Huh...they look kind fashionable." Souma remarked, looking around. "With something like this here, our shopping district doesn't stand a chance."
"I-it's no laughing matter, Yukihira-kun." Mayumi told him.
"She's right, Souma. Don't sound so cheerful about that." Ariadne told him from where she was walking along side Mito.
Mayumi, feeling awkward when compared to Mito and Ariadne, who strutted through the station as if they were on the walkway, watched the two girls from behind. She was surprised, when she looked around, to find that every guy they passed, openly stared at the two.
Not that either of them really noticed.
Both were too busy looking at the shops around them, Ariadne folding her arms behind her back as she walked. Mito only noticed that one person was staring, and it was that Mayumi was staring. Rounding on Mayumi, her expression showing how annoyed she was, Mito braced her hands on her hips.
"What the hell are you looking at?" Mito demanded.
"Hey, don't bully Kurase, Nikumi." Souma told her.
"He's right. Be nice, Ikumi." Ariadne told Mito, sliding an arm through one of Mito's to pull her away from Mayumi. "Hey, Souma, isn't that the shop we came for?"
Souma turned, following Ariadne's line of sight. The shop was called Mozuya, and was filled with people while a cheery, overly chipper woman actively drew business in.
"Wha...?! The chain...you meant Mozuya?!" Mito demanded.
"You know it?" Souma asked.
"It's a really famous karaage shop in Kansai." Mito replied, before gesturing to the chipper woman. "And, she is Nakamozu Kinu. She's the head of Mozuya, a shop whose headquarters in Kyoto expanded to the whole Kansai region! They were the first in history to win the All Japan Karaage Convention for three consecutive years. Everyone says they'll surely win again this year."
"There's quite a lot of housewives shopping here." Souma remarked.
"Yes...it's even busier at night." Mayumi told him.
Ariadne caught sight of one of the packages being carried out of the shop, her hands going to her hips in thought.
"The packaging looks fashionable. I can see it being popular with women." Ariadne remarked.
"It is. They say there are a lot of people who take the train just to buy it." Mayumi confirmed.
"The store's appearance is nice, and there are a lot of salesgirls also, so it's really attractive. Oh...there's such a big line." Souma remarked.
It was then that Souma and Ariadne pegged a familiar face in the line. It was Tomita, the man trying to hide who he was with a trench coat, hat, and sunglasses.
"What are you doing, chairman?" Souma asked, approaching him.
"Souma-chan! No...I just thought I could help you out somehow." Tomita told him.
"Right...what's the disguise for?' Souma asked.
"This is enemy territory. It will be dangerous if they find out my identity." Tomita replied seriously.
Ariadne and Souma shared a look, Ariadne blinking back in confusion. Turning back to Tomita, they both asked the same question at the same time.
"Why?"
Of course, Tomita didn't answer them. Instead, he nearly had the pants scared off him when Mozuya's Nakamozu suddenly appeared behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to be all secretive, you can just line up normally. Okay, Mr. Shopping District Chairman?" Ariadne never heard a man squeal louder than Tomita did just then. "Ah, are you his friends from the shopping district? Why don't you try a sample?"
Nakamozu held out a tray with samples on it for them to take one.
"Is it okay? Then I won't hold back!" Souma said, picking up one.
"Merci." Ariadne added, picking up one to hand to Mito before taking one for herself.
Popping the piece of chicken into her mouth, Ariadne was instantly hit by the lightly crisp coating and tender chicken inside. Ariadne rolled the flavor around on her tongue, trying to pinpoint the different spices they had used in the sauce.
"Wow! I wonder what they did to make them so tasty." Mayumi remarked.
"Well, you see...we use Omi chickens. They're a super high class breed, that's raised only on herbs! And the key factor is our secret soy-based sauce! We firmly rub the sauce, using grated apple as a base, and dozens of seasonings as well, into the chicken! And then we fry it, while letting it come in contact with the air, until it becomes crispy!" Nakamozu gushed. "Some people even call it "The best karaage on earth." Ohohoho!"
"Is it okay to tell us all that?" Souma asked.
"I don't mind at all! There's no way you can make it anyway!" Nakamozu retorted.
Ariadne looked up, snapped out of her contemplation. While Nakamozu was smiling and had been talking with a very polite, upbeat tone, Ariadne felt like she had just been insulted. From the look on Souma's face, he felt the same way. Nakamozu, though, merely turned her attention to Tomita.
"However, you sure are a shameless man...to think you're relying on women and children! You just watched how your clients went away. Don't you have any self-respect? If a sad man like you stood in front of my shop, it would hinder business." Nakamozu said, piling one insult on top of another.
Souma merely walked up to Tomita, laying a hand on his shoulder while Ariadne stood on his other side, hands on her hips.
"It seems you have a lot of confidence." Souma remarked.
"And if I'm not mistaken, I'm sure I heard an insult towards our cooking ability somewhere in there." Ariadne added, smiling pleasantly.
"Right. So, if we can make a karaage more delicious than yours in the shopping district, it would be a disgrace to Mozuya!" Souma added, smiling a goofy grin.
Just like that, Nakamozu's air and tone changed, her expression taking a dark twist as she drew close to Souma.
"You seem to be skilled at talking big, boy. Don't try to get smart with me, you idiot. What can a bunch of brats like you do?" Nakamozu demanded.
"Oh my! Now that's unprofessional of you." Ariadne replied back, grinning in a not-so-innocent way.
Nakamozu took a moment to calm down, her expression reverting back to the pleasant one she had been wearing while talking to customers. Raising her hand fan, she fanned herself, smiling lightly.
"Well...a weak shopping district, with no competitive power or originality, can only die out, right? I hope to have your patronage, at Mozuya from now on." Nakamozu told them before walking away.
Ariadne found it funny how blind the woman could be and laughed to herself the whole way back to Yukihira's. Walking into the restaurant, Ariadne finally let a laugh out, making the other three stare at her.
"That woman obviously underestimates the people in the shopping district. People who are desperate enough, can pull off anything." Ariadne remarked as Mayumi took a seat at the bar.
"She's got a point." Mito agreed. "For now, shall we try a recipe that's similar to theirs?"
"I guess so! Ari, can you mix a marinade?" Souma asked.
"Yeah, sure."
Ariadne head into the kitchen, quickly gathering what she would need, plucking one spice after another off the shelf.
"Alright! Let's overthrow Mozuya. Let's start making test dishes!" Souma said, grabbing some chicken. "I'll cut the meat into random sizes."
"Here's a sauce of grated apple, onion, and ginger. It's just a base that we can build from." Ariadne added, setting a bowl beside Souma.
"That's great. We'll pickle the chicken in the sauce thoroughly, so that the flavor soaks into it. Since this is s test, I'll fry them right now." Souma told them.
"I'm sure at Mozuya, they let the chicken soak in the marinade for, at least, ten hours." Ariadne remarked.
"Ten hours?! That long!?" Mayumi asked.
"You want to make sure the flavor gets nice and deep into the chicken." Ariadne explained. "There are some place, especially with BBQ in the southern states of America, that let meat soak in a marinade for much longer than that."
"Oh..."
Mayumi stood back and watched as Ariadne sat a bowl of potato starch in front of Souma.
"And then I'll coat them uniformly, with potato starch. Dumping on the extra flour is the secret to make them crispy." Souma continued, Ariadne heating oil for the fry while he finished with the chicken. When it was heated to the right temperature, he dropped the chicken into the oil to fry up. "Here we go...test dish one is done!"
Souma scoped the chicken out of the oil and set them on a cool rack to drain of excess oil and to cool. After given a moment, each of them took a bite. Mayumi was instantly surprised by the delicious flavor of the chicken.
"It's delicious! This is also really delicious, Yukihira-kun!" she exclaimed.
"But you know...this dish's impact loses against Mozuya's dish." Souma replied.
"The sauce is lacking. Their's...soy sauce, garlic, and so many other spices. I can only imagine that it took them years to perfect that blend, and that's what we have to match." Ariadne remarked, rolling the flavor of their karaage over her tongue.
"That's it! We don't really have to fight with karaage! We could use other meat, like beef or pork...there are many options!" Mito told them.
"Hmm...but if we don't go against their main dish, we can't get the clients back." Souma replied.
"How about "A5 beef"? With that, you'd win with the ingredients' quality and popularity for sure, you know?" Mito suggested.
"But...that's expensive, right?" Souma asked.
"On behalf of our friendship, the Mito Group will sell you the best ingredients, and ignore the cost! Wait a bit! I'll calculate the price." Mito told them.
"I have a feeling it's still going to be pricy." Ariadne whispered lowly to Souma.
"Ermmm...one hundred grams for thirty-five hundred yen." Mito told them after a moment.
Ariadne let out an awkward chuckle as Souma hung his head for a moment. Back in France, that would have been nearly thirty euros for just one hundred grams. Considering it was a small shopping district with businesses that weren't rich, it wasn't worth it.
"No thanks then." Souma told Mito.
"Do-don't hold back because of its cheap price!" Mito retorted.
"No, umm, I'm not holding back." Souma insisted.
"Ikumi, this is a small shopping district. To the middle class people living here, that's still too expensive. They aren't like the big name suppliers and restaurants that your family works with." Ariadne explained while Souma turned to Mayumi.
"Kurase, any ideas?" Souma asked.
"Eeh...! Ermmm...ma-making it shopping district-like...maybe!" Mayumi suggested. "Ah, but...ermmm, I don't have any solid suggestions, sorry."
The suggestion didn't give Souma any idea until after they had fiddled with the recipe and made a few more test dishes. By then, it was later in the afternoon and noise outside the restaurant increased as middle schoolers started past, heading home after school activities.
"Middle schoolers, hm?" Souma remarked.
"There's a lot of them, even though it's a holiday." Mito replied.
"They're coming back from their clubs. There's a lot of schools around here. High schoolers and college students gather here too." Souma told her.
"It would really help us get more clients in the district if we could think of something they could easily pick up and carry while they pass through." Ariadne remarked, watching the students.
It was then that an idea slapped Souma right in the face. With a sudden yell of "That's it!", Souma had Ariadne jolting and leaning away from him, shocked by the suddenly outburst.
"What's it?" Ariadne asked.
"That's it! I was being too dense...we don't have to fight them on their territory!" Souma declared.
"Then...it's A5 meat's turn?" Mito asked, hopefully.
"No, we're making karaage." Souma replied.
"But you said we're not fighting on their territory!" Mito complained.
"We're not. We just have to think about things they can't do. Things that we can do with the same dish, because we're in a shopping district! The most delicious way of eating karaage...we're creating the thing that will decide this war!"
Souma didn't explain anything else to them until Tomita was was present. Only then did he explain what he meant.
"What's the tastiest way to eat karaage?" Souma asked.
"Freshly made, right?" Ariadne asked.
"Right! But, Mozuya's dishes aren't always like that." Souma replied.
"Eh...what do you mean?" Mayumi asked.
"For the customers that take them by train, they put it inside tightly-sealed packages so the smell doesn't leak out, right? And you can't just start eating inside that tidy station. Those dishes aren't meant to be eaten right away...but when you get home!" Souma pointed out.
"You're right...when my mom bought Mozuya's karaage, it got cold and we had to reheat it in the microwave." Mayumi confirmed.
"But doing that, the karaage loses some of it's flavor and a lot of the crispiness." Ariadne pointed out.
"Right. You're not bound by that in a shopping district! I mean, there's even places that advertise by saying you can eat their food while walking. You bite into it when it's just been fried and hot! Karaage really has to be like that! Moreover, there are a lot of schools, from primary to college, around here. The streets will be full of people wanting to buy it, and eat right away! Like Ari said...something they can just pick up and eat on the go!" Souma explained.
"I see! There's no need to make meals you cna take home...those so-called "HMR's"...we have to make use of our local advantage!" Mito exclaimed.
"Exactly! The keywords are "karaage you can eat while walking!". With this, we have a chance of winning, right?!"
Ariadne admitted that it had potential.
With that in mind, they moved on to how to make their karaage where it could be easy to carry and eat on the go. They started off with cutting and folding recycled milk cartoons into a hand-sized carrier, and putting two different types of karaage in that. While good, it didn't have the plumpness of Mozuya's. Mayumi suggested putting the karaage on a skewer, but there were already several places that sold karaage that way. Tomita even suggested a karaage onigiri.
Which was shot down quickly.
They needed something uniquely them.
"A-and I thought this could work. I mean, karaage and rice are the strongest combination." Tomita remarked.
"Wait...novelty and impact, easy to carry with great flavor...I've got an idea!" Ariadne exclaimed, just as Souma caught on to the same thing as her.
Grinning, the two explained to the others. Hope spread through the others as they listened. It would take a lot of work to do what they needed, and they only had a short time. With that in mind, they got to work.
It was going to be a very interesting break.
-0-0-0-0-
Over the next three days, Ariadne and her friends worked over time, putting their dish together and selling it. As each day passed, more and more people showed up to buy one of their special karaage rolls. While Mito focused on the sauce and the preparations for the meat, Souma focused on frying the meat and the special chili sauce they added in the end. That left Ariadne with the making of the lightly cooked batter and herbs that they wrapped the karaage in and the stamping of the sumire flower on the side fo the roll.
On their second day of selling the dish, Ariadne, Souma, and Mito found the shop bustling with people lining up to buy the dish. Ariadne found it a little funny, though, watching Tomita try to keep up with her, Souma and Mito, since he would be the one selling it in his shop after they went back to school after their holiday.
Half way through a rush, Souma caught sight of Nakamozu. She had come to see why her profits had been dropping over the last two days. Leaving the fryer and batter to Tomita, who turned white as a ghost, Souma and Ariadne went out to meet with Nakamozu.
"Oooh? Aren't you the people from Mozuya?!" Souma called, making Nakamozu jump and turn to them as Souma taunted her with her own words to them. "You don't have to be secretive."
"You can just line up normally." Ariadne added.
"Since when were you planning this?" Nakamozu demanded, facing them.
"Hm? Three days ago." Souma replied. "The hardware store provided the cooking utensils, Sumire's mark was made by the sheet metal worker!"
"The ingredients come from the vegetable grocer, and the butcher, handled by our very lovely Ikumi. The fliers, designed by sweet Mayumi, and the wrappings were printed by the printer. Everything was prepared in this shopping district overnight." Ariadne added.
"How could this be?!" Nakamozu asked, looking around the street at the several shops that were doing business because of the karaage roll.
"Mozuya lady, you said this, right? "A place with no competitive power or originality can only die out"...was it?" Souma asked, looking at Ariadne, who nodded. "It has it. Our shopping district has power!"
"Shut up...I've had enough of your insolent talk! So what if you have that karaage? Sooner or later, you'll be crushed by Mozuya!" Nakamozu insisted.
"If you're going to say that much, then try some too." Ariadne replied, a few middle schoolers offering her some.
"They're right...you let us try some of yours last time, so try one of ours too." Souma insisted, giving her a freshly made one to try.
One bite was all it took to show her that even the shopping district could compete with a big name brand like Mozuya. With her admitted defeat, Ariadne and Souma felt like they had done a good job. Souma thanked each of them for helping him with the whole project. With Mayumi's agreement to work part-time at Tomita's shop in order to help out with the karaage rolls, Souma and Ariadne could call their holiday to an end.
The next morning, Ariadne waved goodbye to the new friends she made and headed back to Totsuki with Souma. With their holiday over, it was time to move on to the next event of their school lives.
Whatever it was, she was sure it would be challenging and fun.
END
Kyandi: Now it's on to the Autumn Selection!
Ariadne: You're just ready to show off the next recipe you researched.
Kyandi: Yes, I am! I put a lot of work into this recipe and even tried it out myself.
Ariadne: Any good?
Kyandi: It was delicious!
Ariadne: You have too much time to cook now.
Kyandi: A lot of people have too much time to cook now. It makes my writing about cooking more realistic.
Ariadne: True. Shall we move on then?
Kyandi: Yes! Everyone, please enjoy and review.
Ariadne: We'll return as soon as possible.
Kyandi: Bye-bye!