Kyandi: Hey, my lovelies. So…I didn't make it for posting another chapter before Christmas.

Ariadne: She got really busy from the week before Christmas all the way up until last week.

Kyandi: And then I spent the last week sick as a dog.

Ariadne: And with today being her birthday too.

Kyandi: Yeah, so…happy birthday to me! Don't ask me my age because I'm not telling anymore.

Ariadne: Her family has given her age issues.

Kyandi: Yeah…Anyway, I added a new little tidbit in this chapter about Ariadne that none of you knew, but probably should have guessed.

Ariadne: We'll see what you guys think of it.

Kyandi: With that said, everyone please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does not own Shokugeki no Souma.

Chapter 14 Semi-finals

"I'm so glad I didn't make it into the main tournament. It looks like too much of a hassle."

A week later, the day of the semi-finals, found Ariadne, as usual, elegantly draped over the rail of the guest seats, watching the floor below while guys behind her were fixed on the way her short skirt flirted with showing off her underwear. At the current moment, her friends were staring at her as she idly twirled a strand of aqua blue hair around one finger. Despite the fact that Souma had, once again, put his enrollment at the school on the line, Ariadne looked as relaxed as if it was just them cooking back in the dorm. She didn't seem the least bit concerned for her friend.

"Ari…"

"Hmm?" Ariadne didn't turn to look at Ryoko when the girl spoke. Instead, her attention was fixed on the strand of hair she was wrapping and unwrapping around her finger. Idly, she took note that her original hair color was starting to show through the dye. "I should set an appointment with a hairstylist. My roots are going to start growing back in soon."

"Aren't you worried!?" Yuuki demanded.

Ariadne only looked up then, leaning her head back to peer at the girl. "Huh? Oh, not in the least. This is Souma we're talking about. He might be reckless, but he's not always as stupid as he acts. Now, on to a more important subject." Ariadne stood up straight, holding out the hair she had twirled around her finger. "Should I do a different color or keep the blue?"

Ariadne was met with deadpan, frustrated looks from her friends at her honest question, the girl blinking back at them in confusion. It had her asking what the looks were for when they just simply turned away from her. Down below, Doujima Gin was the one that took the mic, announcing that he, along with Hinako, Mizuhara and two other judges, Tsunozaki and Kikuchi, would be the judges for the semi-finals. Ariadne stepped up beside Megumi to watch, both of them meeting Hinako's gaze from across the floor. It didn't take much for Ariadne to figure out that that the woman was gushing over Megumi's cuteness and Ariadne's sexiness from the distance. While Megumi shrank back, Ariadne gave Hinako a smile and waved.

She watched as Hinako swooned.

Sometimes, it was just too easy.

Redirecting her attention to Souma and Mimasaka as the two started cooking, Ariadne watched as Souma pulled out beef tail for his stew. Ariadne's head tilted to the side as she considered that, her hands going to her hips. So, in reply to how timid his beef stew was compared to others, Souma had gone with the most gelatinous part of a bovine's anatomy. It was a good way to add body to the stew without messing with the light-brown miso's flavor. It was a technique that Hisako had used in her match against Akira, which didn't surprise Ariadne in the least. Souma always had a habit of picking up on new techniques and using them once he had seen them. In Ariadne's opinion, it was the markings of a world-class chef, whether others wanted to admit it or not.

To add to the body he created with the beef tail, Souma added aroma by adding in spices like clove and black pepper. A trick he no doubt picked up from Akira. It put a grin on Ariadne's face as she watched Souma. To that, he added chopped vegetables like carrots, onions, and celery, sauté them in butter boiled with Madeira wine. Ariadne perked up in surprise when she even caught Souma adding in a pinch of brown sugar, like she had in her first ever class at Totsuki.

I see…so he's been watching me, too, Ariadne thought with a chuckle to herself.

Of course, Mimasaka knew all of this as well, copying Souma's recipe up to that point. From there, though, was where Mimasaka started changing things. The changing factor…smoked bacon. Just the smell made Ariadne's mouth water. As someone who had a particular fondness for bacon, Ariadne couldn't deny that the smell of the bacon made her stomach growl.

She was definitely going home to make some bacon after the matches.

From the thick pork belly he laid on the cutting board, Mimasaka cut a thick slab. The bacon was so thick and heavy, that Ariadne knew it couldn't be for anything else but garnish. To add it to any other part would make the stew far too heavy. By sautéing it with melted butter, Ariadne got a good whiff of the bacon's smokiness. Ariadne pondered if for a moment before she jolted.

"He used mesquite chips!"

"Mesquite?" Yuuki repeated, turning to Ryoko. "You know about it?"

"It's a leguminous tree native to the southern states of the United States. There's actually a town in Texas with the same name." Ariadne replied.

"It's a smoking material that's almost never used in Japan." Ibusaki added. "It's one of the smoking chips that people love the most in the birthplace of BBQ, Texas! Since it has a sharp aroma, it's mostly used for some peculiar kinds of meats and serves to give the meat a golden gleam."

"Texans have a fondness for it and some will use it to smoke just about anything. I once met a Baptist pastor from Texas who used it to smoke turkeys for less fortunate people in his town every Thanksgiving and Christmas." Ariadne told them.

The man had been a funny guy and one who adored smoking just about anything he could get his hands on. When Ariadne had met him during a mission trip to France, she had been able to taste many of his smoked goodies. While the information that Mimasaka had used smoking brought her fond memories, it upset Ibusaki that Mimasaka had, obviously, been watching him too, gaining his knowledge of smoking things. Ariadne, though, was snapped out of her memories when Mimasaka revealed that he had even incorporated her style of cooking in by adding in brown sugar cane to his dish. When he threw a glance in her direction though, Ariadne didn't seem like she cared at all, a pleasant smile on her face as she watched. Ariadne wasn't going to be upset just because Mimasaka had picked up on her habit of using brown sugar in dishes like stews.

Besides…she knew Souma would win.

When Souma pulled out a cooler, Ariadne almost laughed. Out of the cooler, Souma pulled beef cheek, beef tongue, beef tripe and fillet. All of which he started to prepare to add to the stew. Of course, Souma would have a back up plan. Like Ariadne had said, he wasn't always as stupid as he acted. Though, she had a moment of wondering if she might be a little wrong when Souma ran back to the waiting room and came back with his little grill. When it became clear that Souma had gone into the match just making up some things as he went, Ariadne heaved a slightly amused sigh.

That being said, Mimasaka wasn't derailed by Souma's tactics and had known that Souma had gone out and bought all of the meats last minute that morning. It was…creepy, to say the least. Ariadne didn't know how she would deal with a stalker like Mimasaka. Of course, she didn't tend to write down her recipes in anyway, but that just guaranteed that Mimasaka would be there, staring at her from a window or something and that was something that sent a chill down her spine. She wouldn't have been able to ignore it if she knew he was out there, somewhere, following her, and would have confronted him with a little tactic her mother use to call The Buzzer Effect.

All she would say was that it involved a high about of electrical voltage and a sensitive "buzzer" spot.

Ariadne tuned back into the match as Mimasaka presented his dish first. It went over well with the judges, the five agreeing that the mesquite's aroma was strong, the flavor mellow and tongue melting. Mimasaka had definitely put forth the time and effort to taking into consideration that Souma might improvise. It looked like Mimasaka had truly prepared for everything and that he would win, hands down, insuring that Souma would never again step foot in a kitchen.

Ariadne couldn't help but think of how idiotic Mimasaka had been.

Going into the match knowing what Mimasaka was like and the dish they would both be making, would be Mimasaka's downfall. Of course, knowing what he knew of Mimasaka, Souma had spent the entire week thinking of Mimasaka and what he would do. Mimasaka was quickly presented with how wrong he had been about Souma when the latter sat his dish before the judges.

From a distance, it looked like Yakiniku with the skirt meat and vegetables Souma had friend on his grill as the toppings. Ariadne was interested in how the flavor turned out when it looked like Souma had put so much meat in that the flavor would be over-powering. It piqued her interest even more when Souma revealed that all of the meats were merely garniture for the stew.

"Quoi? Did he just say what I think he said?" Ariadne asked.

"Yeah…he did…" Ryoko replied.

"Huh…" Ariadne's head tilted to the side. "That's interesting. Skirt is entrails, not something you would normally use for beef stew. I am intrigued to see how this turns out."

"You aren't worried?! He's taking too much liberty with this!" Daigo panicked.

"Calm down. This is Souma. He takes liberties with a lot of things and it always turns out for the best. Que sera, sera."

"You're a little too much like him sometimes." Yuuki told her.

"Merci!" Yuuki hung her head when all she got out of Ariadne for her comment was a smile and genuine word of thanks. Ariadne wouldn't be upset on being compared to Souma in that way. Now, if it was comparing her to Souma when it came to their level of intelligence…then she might have a problem.

Might.

Ariadne turned her attention back to the judges as they gave Souma's dish a try. All of her friends were tense around her, all of them hoping Souma would come out on top so he wouldn't have to give up on cooking. They watched as the judges took their first bite…and were completely blown away. Mimasaka was stunned when all that fell from the judges' mouths were words of praise for Souma's dish. The shocked look on Mimasaka's face actually put a grin on Ariadne's. It was like looking a fish staring back at her from behind the glass of its fishbowl.

"Mimasaka," Souma turned to his opponent. "I had similar thoughts, too. Strengthening the flavor using a strong garniture like smoked bacon…but, doing that I'd never reach the flavor I was looking for."

"It's really original! To think he could spread such a multilayered flavor in a beef stew! How did you even get the idea to assemble such a dish?" Kikuchi asked Souma.

"Ah…well, to be honest, I used a certain dish as the model for it. I finally came up with the idea this morning. It's Chikuzenni." Souma's revelation was met with gasps of astonishment.

"I…isn't Chikuzenni a rather normal home dish!?"

"That's not quite true." Souma grinned as he went on to explain. "Chikuzenni made by pros is created by boiling each different ingredient separately. Boiling the vegetables for a time appropriate to each one…this serves to make every ingredient's color and flavor as good as it can be! And in the end, you reconstruct them into a single dish. All while paying great attention to the balance of the whole dish."

Ariadne laughed at this. "That's Souma for you. He always does have a way to turn the most ordinary of dishes into something great."

"Yukihira…you bastard…" Ariadne's eyes shifted to Mimasaka, the boy barely containing his anger at being upstaged. "Didn't you escape to an improvisation that relied on a whim!? Emptying your mind! Ceasing all thought!"

"I never said I was improvising." Mimasaka jerked at Souma's words, dread building in his gut. "I kept constructing it until just before the match…no, even after I began cooking, the entire time. The road I've walked so far, the absurd flavor combinations I've tried…I continued constructing ideas by bringing together the experience and knowledge gained from them! All inside my mind! You, who completely investigate your opponent's dish and only go one step further to surpass it…I figured you could never replicate this."

Ariadne fought back the urge to laugh as, just like she predicted, Souma was declared the victor of the match and Mimasaka was forced to hand over all the tools he had stolen over the course of his nearly one hundred Food Wars. The crowd was won over, many finally accepting Souma, when it was revealed that Souma had already set it up for all of the tools to be returned to their original owners. It made a smile spread across her face, seeing the joyful smiles on others faces as they reclaimed their precious tools. That smile vanished when Mimasaka spoke after tasting Souma's dish.

"It's time to end this. I'm leaving Totsuki. I won't cook anymore. I lost so disgracefully. There's nothing left I can be proud of-"

Shocked gasped sounded when Ariadne joined Souma in karate chopping Mimasaka's head. Ariadne braced her hands on her hips as Mimasaka looked between them. "You really are an idiot. You lost shamefully? You won shamefully."

Mimasaka looked at Ariadne as she shook her head at him. Souma leaning down to look him in the face, drew Mimasaka's attention to him. "That would make my accepting this Food War meaningless." Souma looked over his shoulder then, where a single case remained from the pile of stolen tools. "What's up? You aren't going to take it back? There's one left…it's yours. Takumi."

It was only then that Mimasaka realized that Takumi was there, walking towards Souma. "That's yours now. Like hell I can accept it!" Takumi turned to Mimasaka, making the larger boy jolt. "Mimasaka Subaru. I lost against you. It was a complete loss. But I won't lose next time! Fi you go one step further then I'll go two…no! I'll go ten or one hundred steps ahead! I will make you pay me back for this humiliation…I won't let it end like this! Understood!? Mimasaka!" Takumi turned, grabbing the case that held his mezzaluna. "The same goes for you, Yukihira." Takumi shoved the case into Souma's arms. "I will definitely take the mezzaluna back. By winning against you in a Food War! Until then…please hold on to it."

"Aw, Takumi~!" Takumi stiffened when Ariadne purred his name, his eyes turning to the grinning French girl. "You're so cute when you're serious. It makes me want to tease you."

Takumi's seriousness fled in the face of nervousness, the boy turning on his heels. "Oh, no! Not again!"

"Ta-ku-mi~!"

Takumi took off running before Ariadne could move, vanishing quickly while Ariadne chuckled. Chuckling along with her, Souma turned back to Mimasaka. "See? People who aim to be professional cooks are just a bunch of helplessly sore losers."

"More so for those people who are raised in prideful environments to begin with. Like our dear Italian, Takumi." Ariadne added, while Souma squatted in front of Mimasaka.

"Listen veeery well, Mimasaka. Don't ever think again about things like trying to rip your opponent's prided up from the roots in a single match. Even if you fail in a way that blows away the self-confidence and conceit you've piled up, even if you feel so miserable that you don't think you can stand up again, tomorrow you'll definitely have to open your restaurant! That's what it's like to be a chef. Doesn't the same go for you? Mimasaka?"

Ariadne walked away from the whole thing with a smile on her face. As she moved to return to the guest seats, she passed Akira and Ryou as they were walking in. "Show us a good match, boys."

Both looked back at her as she passed them. It was Ryou that spoke up. "You lost before the main tournament. You don't get to tell us that."

When Ariadne turned, gracing them with a wide grin, the both felt like they had just been faced with a wolf hiding in sheep's clothing. "I can say that precisely because I lost before then. You know, while it does take talent to win and stand above others…it takes more talent to purposely lose. Have a good match, boys." Ariadne waved to them as she turned and walked off, humming lowly to herself.

While they both wanted to question her, they knew that had bigger fish to fry. Ariadne, chuckling to herself because now the two would be more aware of her, returned to her seat with her friends. She found, upon returning, that Souma had somehow ended up in the observation box with Erina. While she wished she could hear what the two were talking about, Ariadne was more focused on Akira and Ryou as the two got to work cooking. While Ariadne was intrigued by Akira's chose in duck, her attention was really snagged when Ryou pulled out a live eel. With Western style cooking as their theme, Ariadne could see Akira's use of duck, but eel was a little more out there.

Of course, Ariadne could name a few different dishes just in France that used eel, but she knew that eel was more often used in Asian countries. She was interested to see what Ryou intended to make. Leaning against the divider, Ariadne watched as Ryou expertly killed, gutted and cleaned the eel before him. Unlike with Souma's match with Mimasaka, Ariadne couldn't tell which of these two would be the winner of this match. All she could do was stand back and watch as they cooked and complied their dishes. As Akira moved to adding spices to his dish, Ariadne raised her nose to the air.

"The spices creating it are coriander, fennel, oregano…ermm, and…uhh! It's so complicated, I can't figure it out." Yuuki exclaimed.

"Anyway, Hayama-kun sure is calm. He's coolly and indifferently doing his job. I guess he doesn't feel nervous being on a big stage." Ryoko remarked.

"Sounds like him, alright. I've only known him a short time, but I don't believe I've ever seen him lose his cool. At least…not where cooking is concerned." Ariadne told them, grinning to herself.

Ryoko and Yuuki glanced over at her, Ryoko taking in the grin on Ariadne's face. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Ariadne waved it aside. "Hmm…it looks like Ryou is making a matelote." Ariadne's comment brought all of their attention back to the match currently underway. Bit by bit, Ryou built his dish, laying out the cards from his full hand as he saw fit. Akira, though, wasn't going to lay back and just take it. The change in his expression as he finally bared his claws to Ryou, actually put a smile on Ariadne's face. She loved watching as people immersed themselves into their cooking, raising to a challenge. That rise to the challenge had Akira presenting his dish first. "Huh, so he went with Canard Apicius."

The aroma alone was enough to make the judges' mouths water. With the first bite, they quickly realized that the more they chewed, the more the aroma filled their noses. Confident in his ability to completely floor the judges and take the win, Akira turned to Ryou. "Aromas are what will dominate cooking from now on. No matter how many cards you gather…your cards will never reach where I am."

Ariadne wasn't so sure about that. While Akira's sense of smell was truly something to be feared, she could still see the fight in Ryou's eyes. He wasn't done yet, with one last card left in his hand. "Hayama Akira…I finally felt the heat of a contest from you. If you weren't like that, you wouldn't be worth defeating." Akira stood to the side as Ryou presented his dish, Ariadne leaning further forward to peer at the dish he placed in front of the judges.

While the judges were far from impressed with the aroma of the dish, the first bite really took their breath away. "It's plum!" By mixing Japanese plum in with the eel before wrapping it up with the crepine, Ryou had managed to give him dish a whole new flavor that Akira obviously hadn't been counting on. Mixing the eel meat with the mashed potatoes and brioche, only took the flavor to even higher levels. Akira had thought himself the winner of the match but with the presentation of Ryou's dish, he was confronted with the fact that he didn't stand on that stage alone. Ryou would not allow him to rise up out of his reach. At least…not without an explosive battle and struggle.

"Time! With this, the judging is finished…we'll proceed to the verdict. Choose the most delicious dish and cast your vote!"

"Hmm…" Ariadne leaned her chin on her hands as she folded them before her face, a cat-like grin curling her lips when the judges only sat there, unable to decide which one to pick. "I wonder which one they will choose." If she knew Hanako like she thought she did, she would deem it too hard of a choice and refuse to pick. Ariadne was surprised when Hanako was the first judge to submit her vote, her and Mizuhara both picking Akira.

Opposite of them, Doujima and Tsunozaki voted for Ryou leaving on Kikuchi left and with the deciding vote. Ariadne almost laughed out loud when Kikuchi announced her choice.

"I can't…decide. Both dishes were splendid. I can't…say one was better."

Ryou didn't quite take that well. "Don't fuck with us! This is a contest! It can't end unless one is defeated! Make a fucking decision!"

"Sounds like Alice needs to work on Ryou's vocabulary a little bit." Ariadne remarked, not the least bit concerned by the uproar Kikuchi's words had started among the crowd.

Thankfully, Doujima came to her rescue. "It's not like I don't understand her opinion. That's just how comparable these two's abilities are." Doujima announced before turning. "Management committee members…I have a suggestion. Could you hear it?"

Watching from a balcony stood Isshiki, Erina and Eizan. "What is it, Chef Doujima?" Isshiki asked.

"Going by a Food War's rules, when a decision just can't be reached, it becomes an undecided match and the match is conducted on a later date…am I right?" Doujima asked as the three joined them on the arena floor.

"Exactly." Isshiki agreed. "However, this is the Autumn Election…we have many VIPs watching. They're all really busy people. Of course, the same goes for the judges. Securing a date for another match is impossible…as much of a shame as that is."

"That's where my suggestion comes in. There's a single option which permits us to break through this unavoidable situation." Ariadne, intrigued at this suggestion of Doujima's, tilted her head to the side, intent on hearing what he had to say. "Make both of them pass. For the first time in the Autumn Election's history, a "three-way final", that's what I propose!"

Ariadne actually broke out in laughter, truly amused by Doujima's suggestion. Especially when she saw the look on Ryou's face when the Headmaster agreed with the whole thing. When one of the newspaper club girls approached Ryou, Ariadne knew she had to step in before he bit the poor girl's head off.

"Kurokiba-kun! I'm from the T.S., can I have a bit of your time? Congratulations on making it to the finals! Tell me how you feel about it."

Tell her, he did.

"What "congratulations", dammit…I haven't accepted this. They fucking delayed the decision, damn it aaaaa-"

Ryou was forced into a crouch, gripping his head, when he was suddenly hit with a hard smack to the back of his head. Ariadne stood behind him, one hand on her hip as she waved the hand she had just used to abuse his head. Turning, she looked over at Alice who had joined her. "You really need to teach him a wider vocabulary that doesn't involve swears, Alice. No one is ever going to want to marry a potty mouth like him. Nor will they bother to visit any establishment he works at if he can't keep his impulsive swearing to a minimum."

"Ryou-kun, to your house!" Alice told him, blowing a whistle at him.

Ryou shot Ariadne a dirty look, but it only made her grin grow even more. "No need for the dirty look, Ryou. You were asking for that. If you want…I could kiss it to make it better." Ariadne wiggled her eyebrows at Ryou, only succeeding in the boy surging to his feet and yelling at her. Ariadne danced back away from him, laughing, when he took a lunge at her. "All you had to say was no, Ryou. No need to get so…flustered about it."

"Who the fuck says I'm flustered!?"

Ariadne dodged another lunge from Ryou, laughing as she retreated back behind Alice, using the other girl as a shield between her and Ryou. Ryou came to a stop, his temper only climbing when Ariadne leaned out from behind Alice, sticking her tongue out at him, displaying something none of them had known Ariadne had…a tongue piercing. Flashing the little piece of silver with its blue gem, Ariadne left Alice to deal with Ryou while she went back to her friends, Ryou angrily watching her leave. Isshiki chuckled at Ariadne's antics before turning back to business at hand.

"With this, the semifinals are finished. Next, the management committee will announce the theme for the finals!"

"Hello, big ice chunk." Ariadne whistled low to herself as Isshiki wheeled in a huge block of ice. Picking up a sledgehammer, Isshiki gave the ice a firm whack, splitting it until it crumbled. Inside it revealed a collection of Pacific Saury. "Fish, huh? And not just any fish. This fish will play to all of their strengths. It's extremely aromatic, playing to Akira's strengths, is a highly valued seafood, playing to Ryou's strength, and is deeply related to the "tables of the masses", playing right along with Souma's strengths. Should be interesting."

With the theme selected, the finals were set to take place in ten days. Ariadne went about her way home, swinging by the grocery store for some bacon along the way. She was excited to see how the finals would go. Who would win, who would lose…they would all see in just the matter of ten days.

END

Kyandi: You really do know how to anger Ryou.

Ariadne: It's a talent that you blessed me with.

Kyandi: That is true. Wait until the Elite Ten get fully introduced. You're really going to bug some people then.

Ariadne: Oh, I imagine. I'm looking forward to it.

Kyandi: So am I. Eizan is going to flip his lid and be at the end of his chain by the time we're done with him.

Ariadne: If you dear readers couldn't tell, she doesn't particularly like Eizan-senpai.

Kyandi: If you do like him then, I'm sorry, but you have to be into degradation or something, because he's just a rude jerk.

Ariadne: And that's putting her opinions mildly.

Kyandi: Yep. Anyway, let's get a move on with this. Everyone, please enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We'll be back as soon as possible.

Kyandi: Bye bye!