Kyandi: Hey, hey, I'm back!

Ariadne: Someone made me say a dad joke in this chapter.

Kyandi: It's funny because it's stupid!

Ariadne: I beg to differ.

Kyandi: Well, it doesn't really matter what you think. It's what the readers think.

Ariadne: And they'll agree with me.

Kyandi: We shall see.

Ariadne: Yes, we shall.

Kyandi: It's late, I'm sleepy and I don't have much to say, so everyone enjoy and review.

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

Chapter 15 Fishy Finals

In the days leading up to the finals, Ariadne found herself being dragged to the kitchen to taste test more and more of Souma's fish dishes. It finally got to a point where even Ariadne got the itch to try out new fish dishes of her own or grow sick and tired of the taste of fish altogether. It was that urge that drove her to the fish markets early one morning, wallet ready for shopping. It was there that she ran into the very three to star in the finals of the Autumn Election.

"Well, lookie here. If it isn't my three favorite stars." Ariadne could practically hear Ryou groan as the three boys turned to look at her. He opened his mouth to snap something at her in return-something sour and course, she was sure-but was brought to a stuttering halt at the sight of the girl.

For today's little excursion to the fish market, Ariadne had chosen to wear a short, golden dress with netting over it, fish net stockings, ankle boats, and a leather jacket. All in all, it wasn't a bad outfit…until one's eyes took in the skin-tight fit and low neckline that made it look like her chest would pop out at any second if not for the netting that was containing it. In opposition of her outfit, she had a cooler hanging from a strap around her shoulder and a pair of latex gloves hanging from a pocket of her jacket.

"Oh, hey, Ari." Souma greeted, not the least bit affected by her appearance. After living with her a few weeks, he was used to the kinds of outfits the girl walked around in. After all…neither Ryou nor Akira had seen what she wore to bed. "What are you doing here?"

"After all the fish you've made me try over the last few days, I had an itch to work on some of my own fish dishes. That or grow sick of the taste of fish and abandon it as a food group altogether." Ariadne replied, her chin going up proudly, her hands going to her hips. "I even dressed for the occasion."

"How the hell did you dress for the occasion?" Ryou demanded, his eyes sweeping down her outfit once more.

Ariadne raised an eyebrow, as if the answer should have been obviously before pointing to her clothes. "Uh, fishnets, duh." When the only one to laugh was Souma, the other two only staring at her, Ariadne heaved a sigh, her hands going back to her hips. A pout fell on her pretty face as she cut her eyes over at Akira and Ryou. "No? You two need to lighten up and learn how to take a joke before you die as sourpusses. Souma got it."

A low grumble left Ryou in the face of Ariadne's joking, his shoulders hunching further. "I don't have the time for your stupid antics."

"Oh?" Souma could have told Ryou that was the wrong thing to say to Ariadne. She wasn't going to let Ryou go so easily now. Ariadne turned to fully face the boy, her lips spreading in a grin that portrayed her mischievous thoughts. Ryou straightened up when she stepped close to him, turning on the charm thick. "Is that so? You know, if you think I'm hot, you don't have to hide it. Just say it. I'm a very appreciative person."

"I didn't say anything like that!"

"You didn't have to." Ariadne wrinkled her nose in amusement at Ryou's growing frustration with her. His teeth ground together when her hand came up, one finger running along the underside of his chin, making his head tilt backwards. "Not everyone can have the world class self-confidence that I rock like a queen. You don't have to be upset just because you don't. Jealousy is an ugly, green little monster and, trust me, it is not a good look for anyone, let alone you."

Ryou shot her a glare, growling at her. Souma was chuckling by this point, Akira purposely remaining quiet, so Ariadne didn't feel the need to turn her attention to him. The last thing he really needed was for her to decide that he was the better target. Ryou, though, apparently didn't know how to stop digging his hole. "That has nothing to do with this!"

"Au contraire, mon bourru."

"What did you just call me?" Ryou demanded, brows furrowing.

"'Surly man", but that doesn't matter." Cue another eye twitch from Ryou. "What matters here is that if you didn't react the way you do, it wouldn't egg me on so much and I wouldn't keep going for as long as I do. You bring the teasing on yourself, really. I'm starting to think you like all my attention and teasing." Ariadne, wide grin on her face, gave Ryou's nose a tap before she turned away from him. She ignored his glare as she turned to look at Souma and Akira. "How's the fish shopping going? Find anything good?"

"I believe so." Akira replied.

"Yeah, I'm all set." Souma added.

"Good. I'm looking forward to seeing what the three of you decide to cook. Give us all a good show, okay?" Ariadne turned, to go about her own fish shopping when she was called to a stop.

"About what you said the other day," Ariadne turned back when Akira called out to her. "What did you mean when you said, "purposely lost"?"

A slow, mischievous grin curled Ariadne's lip, one hand coming up to press gold-painted nails to her bottom lip. "Hmm…What did I mean, indeed. I'll leave it to your imaginations. After all…what's the fun in just telling you?" Ariadne blew them a kiss and gave them a wink before she turned on her heel and strutted away, walking down the aisle between vendor booths like she owned the fish market.

The three boys stared after her, Souma smiling while the other two were simply perplexed. Akira turned his eyes to Souma. "Is she always like that?"

"Yep. You get used to it...eventually." Souma replied.

Akira and Ryou weren't sure they would ever get use to the way Ariadne could tease, flirt with, manipulate and frustrate people all in the same breath. At the moment, though, it didn't matter. They had roughly a week to prepare for the finals and none of them could afford the distraction of Ariadne's teasing.

Ariadne hated to break it to them, but…they would never escape that.

-0-0-0-0-

"I don't know why all of you look so nervous."

The night of the finals came swift, Ariadne finding herself standing among her friends as they awaited the start of the cooking. Several of them turned to look at her like she was crazy when she uttered the single sentence.

"You're kidding right!?" Mito demanded. "What if he's not properly prepared and loses?"

"Then he has a learning experience on his shoulders." Mito's jaw dropped as Ariadne stated that plainly. Ariadne raised an eyebrow at her, simply reaching out to press two fingers under Mito's chin, forcing her to close her mouth. "Close your mouth, Ikumi, dear. Else wise, I'll take it as an invitation to kiss you." Mito's jaw locked, keeping her mouth closed. "Honestly, though. If Souma doesn't happen to wish this, it's not like his enrollment is in stake here. He'll have another chance. I'm not too concerned, to be frank. In the end, you can't grow without facing defeat now and then. Try not to get too worked up."

"Do you even take cooking seriously?" Mito demanded, deadpanned.

"Of course, I do. I just don't see the point in getting worked up over something like this where there are no consequences to me." This had Mito, and several of Ariadne's friends staring at her. "What?"

"You are aware that your results in the Autumn Election can have major consequences to your future career, right!?" Mito demanded.

"Maybe, but, in my case…I highly doubt it." Confused looks were directed at Ariadne, but the girl quickly changed the subject. "Oh, they're bringing out their saury."

All eyes went down to the three finalists as both Akira and Ryou laid out their saury. When Souma went to pull his out, he had to do a little digging in order to find the fish in his ice chest. What he pulled out had many in the crowd, and even Ryou and Akira, staring at Souma like he was a nutjob. Ariadne broke out in a fit of undignified giggles at the looks on Ryou and Akira's face, her shoulder heaving as she tried to keep her laughter silent and failed. In the silence that followed the reveal of Souma's fish, the only thing that could be heard was the poorly suppressed peals of laughter from Ariadne. Ariadne was finally able to pull it together, wiping at her eyes as she heaved a content sigh.

While Souma, Akira and Ryou finished their preparations below, Ariadne's attention turned to the judges for the event. Two out of the three judges were Nakiris with Alice's mother stepping in as the third judge. At the current moment, Alice stood at her mother's shoulder, trying to talk Erina into joining her while Erina stood off to the side, trying to remain composed in the face of her family's antics. Alice's voice carried clear to the guest seats then when Alice turned to look up to where Ariadne was leaning on the banister to watch.

"Hey, heeeyyy, Ari!" Ariadne waved back to Alice with a smile, showing that she could hear her. "You should come meet my mother! It's fine, isn't it, Grandfather?"

"Yes, there's no problem." Sanzaemon replied, happily consenting to his granddaughter's request.

"See! Hurry, Ari!"

Ariadne chuckled lowly as she stood up straight. "Fine, fine, I'm on my way." Ariadne gave her friends a wink before heading down to the judges' seat. She gave Erina a smile as she passed the girl and headed to Alice's side. Stopping there, she gave Sanzaemon a polite bow of greeting. "Headmaster. It's a pleasure, as always, to see you."

Sanzaemon gave her a smile and a bow of his head in greeting too. Alice took hold of Ariadne's hand then, pulling her closer to her side in order to introduce her to her mother. "Mother, this is a new friend of mine. Her name is Ariadne, but I call her Ari."

Ariadne bowed in greeting to the woman, a pleasant smile on her face. "A pleasure, ma'am."

"Oh! A French accent I hear, yes?"

Though her Japanese wasn't the best, Ariadne could at least understand what she meant to get across. Smiling brightly, she nodded. "Yes, ma'am, it is."

"Merveilleux! Il est beaucoup plus facile de parler francais vers japonais." Leonora gushed, commenting on how it was much easier for her to speak French than Japanese.

"C'est pour moi aussi." Ariadne agreed with a small laugh.

A sudden increase in whispering from the crowd had Ariadne turning to find that Souma had grabbed his fish. Taking them to the sink, he began to rinse them off. When he turned around, he found both Akira and Ryou staring at him. "If you're curious, why don't you take a closer look?"

"Don't fuck with us, who's curious?" Ryou retorted as he and Akira turned away. "I'm gonna hit you, bastard."

Ariadne leaned towards Alice. "You might want to get your whistle ready. Just in case."

Alice nodded, her whistle already in hand just in case Ryou decided to lose his temper. Thankfully, both Akira and Ryou walked away and back to their stations to continue their preparations. Ariadne crossed her arms over her chest, watching as Souma took his fish and began grilling in on his person grill. Around the same time, Ryou finished all of his initial preparations. Ariadne leaned froward, head tilting to the side.

"Shrimp, mussels, ripe tomatoes and olive oil…huh, so he's making an Acqua Pazza. I see," Ariadne stood up straight, her hands going to her hips. "So, he plans to use the saury as the fish core for the acqua pazza."

"It's a really peculiar dish, as it doesn't use as many seasonings as other boiled dishes." Erina remarked.

"It would be even more peculiar if it was Akira making that dish, but it makes sense for Ryou." Ariadne told her, drawing attention to Ariadne. "That dish is simple and straightforward about bringing out the good and bad points of its ingredients. It's the perfect dish to make the most of a superhuman ingredient-judging capability. Not only that, take a good long look at his ingredients. Each one has a flavor strong enough that they could stand out as a main ingredient all of their own."

"Won't the fish's good points be overshadowed when it's boiled with all those ingredients?" This came from one of the older gentlemen who had helped with judging the preliminaries.

"Certainly! It's the long-awaited Pacific saury season and yet…" Another of the men started speaking, only to trail off. "Seasonal…"

"Did you finally see it?" Ariadne asked, glancing over at him.

"So that's how it is." Doujima remarked, chuckling. "I see you spotted it quickly, huh, Ariadne-kun?"

"I've just been around Ryou long enough. It's actually kind of obvious. Seasonal Pacific saury might not only get overshadowed, but it also has the potential to become the foundation of the whole dish. It's all a matter in how good of a judge of fish Ryou is. I'm willing to bet on him. From here it's just a matter of how he layers the flavors and builds the dish."

An excited gasp left Alice before she jumped at Ariadne, wrapping her arms around one of Ariadne's. "I knew you'd support Ryou-kun!"

"That wasn't what I was saying, Alice." Ariadne couldn't help a chuckle at the pout that fell on Alice's face. "I won't count him out, that's for sure, but I'm also not going to count out Souma and Akira. It's anyone's game at this point."

"She has a point," Doujima agreed. "Anyway, all three of them are rather composed. They don't let you feel the tension and fighting mood towards a final at all…that's quite a big deal."

"That's to be expected, Chef Doujima." Alice sang. "Ryou-kun and I have had cooking matches since we were young…he's way more experienced."

"Fufu…that takes me back. When you two were young…you were really cute." Leonora remembered fondly.

"That's right…Aunt Leonora, you actually know him from when he was in Northern Europe, am I wrong?" Erina turned to look at her aunt, only to find the woman pouting and glaring at her in a hurt way.

"You called me old!? That's rude! Boasting about your youth is selfish! Erina-chan!" Leonora cried.

"Th…that's not it! Calling you aunt doesn't mean you're old!" Erina tried to explain.

Ariadne chuckled lowly, Alice watching with a smile before Ariadne stepped up beside Leonora, calling the woman's attention to her. "Madame Leonora, I assure you that was not what Erina meant. After all…looking at you there's no way you're old enough to be Alice's mother. You look like you could be her sister. She was merely paying you respect as her aunt. Nothing more."

Leonora was pacified with that, her face glowing with a smile as she turned back to talk to her daughter. Erina heaved a silent, relieved sigh while Doujima and Sanzaemon chuckled in amusement. Doujima leaned back in his seat to peer up at Ariadne. "And just who was it that taught you your charm, Ariadne-kun?"

"Hmm?" Ariadne glanced down at him, blinking in surprise before she gave him a wide smile. "Why, my father's mother, of course. She always insisted that a Sinclair can charm anyone, regardless of gender, because charm and appeal are all apart of cooking, after all. She also encouraged my ridiculously horrible flirting habit because at least with girls…I wouldn't have to worry about any pre-marital accidents. She always said that she knew I would take after my flirt of a grandfather and father, so it was best to put as many…"precautions" into place as possible."

Although Ariadne smiled brightly, almost like she could have been joking, all of them had a feeling that she wasn't joking in the slightest. If that was the case, they now understood where Ariadne got all her flirting and teasing from.

"Perhaps we should forget I asked." Doujima joked, chuckling.

"If you want. Doesn't change the answer." Ariadne covered a laugh, chuckling to herself until something Ryou pulled out, caught her attention. "Isn't that heat-resistant film? It's become pretty popular in some cutting edge, high-class restaurants. That has to be another technique he picked up from you, huh, Alice?"

Alice gave her a smile in return, which was all that Ariadne needed to know that she was right. After all, great chefs took what they learned and saw their opponents use and used that to make themselves better. Souma did the same thing. Ariadne didn't dwell on it long as Ryou stepped up, being the first to present his dish to the judges. Before them, he placed tied bags on plates. It was only when they opened the bag that it revealed the dish inside.

"The name of this dish…changes just by wrapping it with heat-resistant film, but the ingredients are almost the same as those of an acqua pazza. "Cartoccio"…the dish I made is an Autumn pacific saury cartoccio! Now taste it!" Ryou demanded.

One bite was enough to gain high praises from the three judges. There wasn't much time for the judges to taste, let alone critique the dishes before Akira served his dish. Opposing Ryou's cartoccio, Akira served a carpaccio, a type of soup served before the main dish. Erina seemed surprised by Akira's choice, but Ariadne wasn't. Even Alice laughed, drawing Erina's attention to her.

"What now, Alice? Are you happy that your aide is in an advantageous position?" Erina asked.

"I wouldn't say Ryou is in an advantageous position right now." Ariadne replied, her eyes on the food before the judges. "I mean, just because Akira's specialty is the ability to control aroma, that doesn't mean it's simply limited to adding more spices."

"You're right." Erina admitted. "By actually reducing the number of spices used, he was able to make the seasonal pacific saury's flavor and smell stand out more distinctly!"

"I can understand that…but how did he create such a rich aroma? This is comparable to Ryou-kun's cartoccio." Alice pointed out.

"Yes…that is not possible through scorching alone!" Leonora agreed with her daughter.

"If I may," Akira, smirk on his face, turned to look at Ariadne as she asked Leonora permission to try a bite off her plate. Leonora conceded, letting Ariadne take a bite. Ariadne stood up straight, slowly savoring the taste, her head tilted to one side. By the time she swallowed, there was a smile on her face. "It's kaeshi, right, Akira?"

Akira smiled, nodding. "Just before serving the dish…I smeared some kaeshi on the surface of the fish meat."

"Kaeshi? Is it Tsubame Gaeshi?" Leonora asked naively, looking up at Ariadne and Erina.

"I'm amazed you know that phrase…but that's not it." Erina told her aunt.

"It's a seasoning made by making soy sauce, mirin and sake, ma'am. If you dilute it with dashi, then you can make soba tsuyu. It's most commonly used in ramen, but it is an all-purpose seasoning that can be used in a variety of Japanese dishes." Ariadne explained.

"That makes sense!" Doujima chimed in. "Burning just the surface of a fish is difficult, even with the heating power of a burner. But that becomes easier to do thanks to the kaeshi's sugar content! That way, he also prevented the pacific saury from losing its freshness due to prolonged heat exposure!"

"The heat scorches the pacific saury's surface fat and the kaeshi's sugar content. In other words…"A one-trick pony of a cook who has brains for spices"…was it?" Akira threw that comment in Ryou's direction, showing, for a moment, how much the comment had gotten under his skin. "This is what it means to subdue the aroma."

The look on Ryou's face as he grit his teeth was almost enough to reduce Ariadne into giggles once more, but her attention was snatched away from the funny sight by Souma as he approached the judges last to present his dish. Souma placed an earthenware pot in front of the three judges, pulling off the lid to reveal the takikomi gohan that Souma had prepared for them.

"Ok, ok…it will be ready soon, so wait a bit longer." Souma said scooping some of it into a bowl, Leonora cheering for him to hurry up. Souma gave each judge a bowl, the three judges digging into the food.

"What a tender flavor! The pacific saury-"

"The pacific saury was cooked together with the rice after grilling it once on the shichirin." Leonora butted in, cutting off Doujima. "That kind of detailed work is what makes the rice so fragrant. And the pacific saury is marvelous by itself! The deep taste among the saltiness and soft smell and flavor spread inside my mouth with every bite! The quality of this dish is not at all inferior to those of the previous two!"

Now curious as to what Souma had done to his fish, Ryou moved to Souma's station, swiping up a bit of the mixture Souma's fish had been coated in when he had first showed up with it. "Rice bran…!?"

"Oh, so it was nuka sanma." Ariadne remarked. "If I'm not wrong, it's a popular traditional dish made mostly in Kushiro, Akkeshi and Nemuro. It serves to bring out the ingredient's flavor, remove any bad smells and increase nutritional value. A lot of fisherman groups consider it to be the best way to preparing pacific saury. It's a good play."

"It was an all or nothing battle against time!" Souma agreed. "I bought as many of the best pacific sauries I could find and kept curing them…while testing new dishes. Naturally, I did all this while improving curing methods other than nukazuke by trial and error. I couldn't really get to the point where the flavor was equal to that of the best seasonal fish, but just before the match…I was finally able to reach a degree of curing I was satisfied with and that's the one! Fumio-san's words and the nukazuke she had in the dorm. The know-how of curing I learned from everyone! The ABC of pickling in salt and removing moisture! All of it led to the idea I got that day!"

While it certainly had been a good idea, Ariadne couldn't help but notice that Sanzaemon hadn't stripped as he usually did with a really good dish. Not that it was going to stop Souma, who insisted that he wanted the judges to try seconds. Not interested, the judges moved to announce an end to judging. It was then that Souma brought out his second "sword". Interested in this new development, Sanzaemon was the first to request seconds. Souma served the food, pouring in a white soup. It was a similar technique to what he had used against Alice and had a bit of a sour look falling on the girl's face.

"Yukihira-kun…it's fine for you to try resisting some more in the end, but isn't this just adapting a previous idea!?" Alice demanded.

"No…that's not is, Alice, this is-"

"Soy milk."

Erina, having been cut off by Ariadne, turned to look at her, the blue-haired girl staring at the dishes as the judges tried the completed version of Souma's dish. With the newly added ingredient, Sanzaemon finally stripped. Grin on his face, Souma explained. "Ari's right. It's soy milk. To make this…I added bits of miso and parmesan cheese to soy milk and carefully simmered! This is my pacific saury dish…"Oja-style pacific saury Takikomi Gohan"!"

"Soy milk, they say…?" Alice considered this for a moment before she realized what both Ariadne and Erina had noticed.

"It seems you've noticed…Alice." Erina remarked.

"He used soy milk as dashi." Ariadne said with a smile.

"So that's how it was…!" Alice bit down on the nail of her thumb.

"Oja-style with soy milk…how very interesting!" Sanzaemon said happily.

Doujima happily scarfed down the meal. "I can't get enough of it…! The parmesan cheese's viscous body and the miso's light flavor entwine together with the rice! And…they were mixed with small pieces of pacific saury." Out of the mix of the dish, Doujima fished out a red piece of fruit. "The red thing that resembles a fruit…is this perhaps…"

"Crispy plum." Souma supplied.

"Yet another entry for your series of snack inspired ideas, I suppose." Ariadne said with a chuckle.

"This plum is yet another key point! The crispy, fun texture and appearance are vibrant! Even in regard to the sense of taste, the pacific saury's abundant fat is gently cut off, which brings in a refreshing flavor. He made full use of the appetite-increasing effect of sour flavors. And the plum itself was pickled in salt! It's perfect to adorn the cured pacific saury!" Leonora explained.

"The judging is now over!" Sanzaemon announced. "Now…we'll give the verdict! Well done! It was a clash of individualities worthy of competing in the final. You three showed us your own unique flavors! First are the cooking skills! You were on par in terms of those. Next, in terms of the judging of ingredients, Kurokiba and Hayama, you both chose the best pacific sauries! Nevertheless…Yukihira splendidly caught up using his original ideas. In terms of creativity, he was the best by far! Moreover, incredibly, in terms of flavor…the three dishes were almost equally delicious! What decided the match was…whether the dish could show you the face of the cook."

"The face…of the cook?" Souma asked, confused on what Sanzaemon was getting at.

"Exactly, Yukihira-kun. A dish really full of originality makes the face of the one who cooked it appear in your heart just from tasting it." Leonora told him.

"On the other hand, you could say…"it's a dish only that cook could make, a dish made with true creativity". That's the kind of cooking that we, with respect towards the one who made it, call a "specialty"!" Doujima added.

With that said, Ariadne had a very good idea on who was going to be the winner. While all three boys had been truly creative in their dishes, only one of them truly screamed "specialty" to her…and it wasn't Souma's.

"The cook to stand on the top is the one who has delved deeper in search of his own cooking! The one who truly faced the question "What is my own cooking?"!" Sanzaemon announced. "The name of that person is…"

Ariadne couldn't help the smile that curled her lips as Akira's name flashed onto the jumbotron, Akira's fist rocketing into the air. Jun instantly rushed to congratulate Akira, the boy turning when she called out to him. Ariadne snapped a hand over her mouth, holding back a bubble of laughter when, in a moment of losing himself, Akira turned, grabbed Jun, and hugged her tight to him. Jun, of course, short-circuited, her face going blood red. Even Akira, when he realized what he had done, was red in the face, instantly turning away from her like nothing had happened. Out of the side of his eyes, Akira caught sight of the cat-that-caught-the-canary grin that was curling Ariadne's lips, her nose wrinkling in teasing when she caught his eye.

Ryou, though, didn't take the announcement of the winner well. To those near him, it felt like a bomb about to go off, his tension was so high. Alice, though, didn't seem to notice it at all, the girl running up behind Ryou to pound on his back with both fists. "To think you lost in front of me!"

"That fucking hurts…! What the fuck are you doing, you bitch!?" Ryou yelled, turning on Alice.

"Oh myyyy, you're calling your master a bitch!?" Alice retorted, turning on her heel to walk away towards Ariadne. "We're through! Come apologize after you've reflected on your actions! Ari!" Alice ran up to Ariadne, seeking comfort. "He was so mean!"

"There, there." Ariadne pet Alice's head, a smile on her face. "You know he didn't mean it. He's just frustrated. Teenaged boys get that way often."

Hearing Ariadne's comment and still frustrated over his own loss, Ryou let out a loud yell. He took a lunge at Ariadne, who, with a laugh, danced out of his way, sticking her tongue out at him, flashing the red gemmed piercing she wore in her tongue that day. Ariadne turned around, approaching Akira to congratulate him, but Doujima had beaten her to the punch.

"Hayama-kun, that was a marvelous dish."

"Thank you very much…Chef Doujima." Akira replied.

"But, such immense talent will eventually bear its fangs at you." Doujima added.

Confused, Akira gave him a questioning look. "Chef Doujima?"

"I'm praying you can get along well with that talent." Was all Doujima said as he walked away, leaving Akira confused.

"He means don't get a big head." Akira jolted when Ariadne suddenly spoke from right behind him. Whipping around, he found the grinning girl fighting back the urge to laugh at him. "You really have to be mindful, Akira. With lots of talent comes lots of pressure. Just make sure you don't sink beneath it all and lose sight of who you really are. It would be a crying shame. Oh, and congrats."

Akira didn't know what to say anymore to Ariadne than he had to Doujima. Souma saved him from having to say anything. "Hayama, can you still make that carpaccio?"

"I do have the ingredients." Akira replied.

"Let me eat it."

"Huh? Why?"

Souma got right up in Akira's face, stern expression fixed in place. "Let me eat it."

"You won't let me answer! Besides, I need to scorch it and so on." Akira retorted, sweat dropping at Souma's insistence.

"Lemme have some too, damn it…!" Ryou demanded aggressively.

"Why are you so aggressive?" Akira asked.

"That's just him being a sore loser." Ariadne assured him. "That being said…I'd like to try some too, if you don't mind."

Akira glanced at Ariadne when she spoke, heaving a sigh when he saw the smile on her face. He had a feeling that despite the smile, she wouldn't let it go until he made her some too. Surrendering the "request", Akira made three more servings, handing them over to the three. Ariadne thankfully took hers, standing beside Ryou and Souma as the two sat on the floor, trying the dish.

"What's wrong with you two?" Akira asked.

"Keh! I can do this better." Ryou retorted, Ariadne fighting a smile when one of Akira's eyes twitched.

"Huh? Are you making excuses now, Kurokiba?" Akira calmed himself. "Listen well…today established the hierarchy between the first-year students. I'm the best among them. You should mind how you speak to me from now on."

Ryou jumped to his feet, facing Akira. "Don't get cocky…we can have a rematch right now, you know!"

"I don't mind, the result would be the same." Akira retorted.

"Well, well…Hayama, you did a pretty decent dish too." Souma suddenly remarked, making an annoyed tic appear in Akira's temple.

"Why are you looking down on me!? You damn third place."

"We don't know if I was third. Don't say random things!" Souma argued.

"Are you saying I'm below you, Yukihiraaa!?" Ryou demanded, mouth full of food.

"All three of you are wrong." The three boys rounded on Ariadne as she calmly ate her food.

"What was that?" Ryou demanded.

"Akira said he was the best of us first years, and you two are sitting here arguing over which of you is second and third. I'm saying that all three of you are wrong, but if you want to keep thinking that, go right ahead. You'll just be in for a rude awakening." Ariadne told them, bright smile on her face.

"Are you trying to say you're better than us, Sinclair!?" Ryou asked.

"I'm not trying to say anything. I'm pretty sure I have no trouble just saying it." Ariadne dodged a grab from Ryou, grinning as she ducked behind Souma, Akira joining Ryou in protesting what she had said. "I believe I already made it clear that I purposely didn't move on to the main tournament. So, if you want to keep thinking that, go right ahead."

Doujima watched from off to the side as Ariadne, all grins, dodged Ryou again, Akira protesting her statement while Souma laughed at it all. He was pretty sure that Akira, Souma and Ryou would become an interesting trio in the future. Then there was Ariadne who had yet to show her true colors, simply biding her time while those around her wore themselves out trying to outshine each other. Doujima was pretty sure that, in the near future, she would show just how truly terrifying she, herself, could be.

A little Blue Devil in a playground of pawns.

With the finals over, it was on to the next stage of their year…learning to survive their stagiaire.

END

Kyandi: God, I love writing you interacting with Ryou. He's so easy to piss off when he worked up.

Ariadne: It is fun. Especially when you add in Alice and her…quirks.

Kyandi: Yeah, quirks. We'll just leave it at that.

Ariadne: Agreed.

Kyandi: I am looking forward to the next arc. Admittedly, not as much as I'm looking forward to the arc after that.

Ariadne: You and me both. I get to annoy more people!

Kyandi: That's one of the goals. Anyway, I want to go to bed, so everyone, enjoy and review!

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

Kyandi: Bye-bye!