Kyandi: I'm back again!

Ariadne: Hehe….

Kyandi: She was really looking forward to this chapter.

Ariadne: I'm going to end up rolling on the floor.

Kyandi: And not from laughter, either.

Ariadne: Nope! From giddiness.

Kyandi: I think I'm just going to go ahead and get to the chapter.

Ariadne: Yes, please!

Kyandi: Everyone enjoy and review.

Ariadne: Kyandi-sama does own Shokugeki no Souma or the songs she uses the lyrics of.

Chapter 20 Entertaining Masses

Over the next few days, Ariadne, Souma and Megumi worked around the clock. Having decided to challenge Kuga not with another Sichuan dish, but with one from another region, they got to work finalizing the recipe and securing the pull staff that they would be using for their booth. Ariadne, to prepare for her part of the whole thing, phoned home, having her brother send her something which arrived the night before the festival was to start. Ariadne didn't let Megumi or Souma see what was inside the large box as she carried it to her room but assured them that it would come in handy.

The next morning, the festival opened.

Megumi freaked out when fully confronted with the sheer difference between their booth and Kuga's. Especially once the customers started coming through and Ariadne still hadn't shown up. After they got their first few customers, though, she began to calm down. That is, until Kuga decided to pay them a quick visit.

"I actually think going for Huajiao Bing was a pretty good idea." Hearing Kuga, Souma turned to find the older boy leaning against their stall. "Sure, it's still Chinese, but you can showcase the differences between that and the Sichuan cuisine I specialize in. And most of all, you can actually enslave the people who eat them with the black pepper's hearty spiciness and the over-flowering meat juice. But, you know, it's all meaningless if the customers don't put them inside their mouths." Kuga smiled, but the smile was quickly wiped away when another voice joined the conversation.

"Kuga-senpai!" Kuga turned when he heard his name being called…and nearly choked on his own spit. His eyes grew wide when he saw none other than Ariadne coming his way. It wasn't so much the girl, herself that had his mouth running dry and his eyes nearly popping out of his head, but the outfit she wore.

"What the hell!" Kuga only barely gasped out the words.

Coming toward them, Ariadne drew all attention to her with the short, Chinese styled dress she wore. The overall outfit was purple in color with pink flowers splattered across the fabric and a hint of green around the waist and in the form of a bow on the back. It fell about three-fourths of the way down her thighs, with slits up the side, had detached sleeves with pink ribbons and tight-high stockings in the same purple with pink ribbons as the sleeves. The outfit wasn't too bad until Kuga's eyes found the slits that split the skirt all the way to the belt around her waist, only tiny purple bows keeping it from flying open, and then the tight way the whole thing hugged her body, making it look like her chest would pop the top open any time now.

The girl came to a stop in front of Kuga, hands clasped behind her back, and bent forward to look up at him. "So, what do you think? Remember? I said I'd pick it just for you."

"I thought you were talking about the booth!" Kuga gasped, leaning back from her as she inched closer.

"Huh? Oh, no. I mean," Ariadne straightened up, placing one hand to her chest. "My appearance counts, too, you know. If I didn't look my best, my customers might not be as willing to give my food a try, and I do have you to compete with in that area. I had to give my best, just for you, Ku-ga-sen-pai~!" The purr that left Ariadne had Kuga shifting on his feet. There was no hiding her intentions behind the words. "Besides," Ariadne leaned in again, pressing a single fingertip to Kuga's chest as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. "I never said anything about the booth's appearance. I'm more concerned with how I appear to you than some silly booth that is better served worrying about functionality than appearance. Or is this your way of saying you don't like the way I look right now."

Ariadne's finger crept up Kuga's chest as she leaned closer, smiling up at him. Kuga, obviously, had no idea what to do with Ariadne. For a moment, it was like the guy's brain had short-circuited, his eyes simply scanning her body, but then he pulled himself together. Kuga wiped the shocked, flustered look off his face, puffed out his chest, and put his cool, confident look back on his face. He smiled down at Ariadne, whose eyes widened, and even leaned closer to her face. "I think you look great but looks aren't what are important here."

With that, Kuga stepped around her and headed back to his own booth. Ariadne turned, blinking, watching him walk away with a sort of wide-eyed look that was a mix of crazed excitement and sort of love-struck awe. Concerned when all the girl did was stare at Kuga, Megumi stepped up to her side, reaching out to touch Ariadne's arm. "Ari? Hey, are you alright?" What came out of Ariadne left her is a sort of breathless rush and had both Souma and Megumi staring at her in shock that such a thing had left the flirty, carefree Ariadne.

"I'm going to marry that boy." Ariadne leaned against the stall, raising one hand to bite on her thumbnail.

Megumi and Souma didn't even know where to start with her comment or what to say in reply to it. Not that they had the time to really worry about it when what few customers they did had, jumped ship to get in line for Kuga's booth. Ariadne pulled herself together, gave her cheeks a slap and jumped to work. Leaving Souma to cook and Megumi to serve, Ariadne traveled the area, guiding customers back to the booth when they gave into interest in the dish after being brough to a stop thanks to her outfit. While Ariadne was able to draw in several customers, when it came to the end of the day, it was nothing when compared to the mountains of tickets that Kuga had managed to rack in. Something the boy had to gloat over.

"Wah! Amazing, you got this much!" Kuga held up his fingers to represent the tickets. "Well, that's great, you got a lot of customers! I'm happy for you, as your senpai! Totsuki's future sure looks bright! If you didn't try to eat up my sales and just set your booth in another area, you would've had a fun, fun academy festival, wouldn't you?"

Both Souma and Ariadne ended up with an eye twitch then, though for completely different reasons. "Oh, Kuga-senpai," Kuga redirected his attention to Ariadne who was smiling at him, her fingers lingering near her lips. "Keep up the gloating and I'll have to kiss that sass from your mouth."

Kuga blinked back at her bright smiling face. Then a grin curled his lips. "Alright, then how about this…your booth beats mine in sells, even just one day, and you can go ahead and do just that."

Souma leaned away from Ariadne when she obtained a glint to her eyes that he so rarely saw. It was one that never ended well for those around her. Despite the excitement Souma and Megumi could tell she was barely containing, her expression stayed cool and collected. "I'll be holding you to that, Kuga-senpai. You're not allowed to back out of it later."

Kuga laughed. "Yeah, sure, sure! Actually, beat me out for sells one day during the festival and it's a deal." One of Kuga's staff members stepped up behind him then, calling his attention away from a barely contained Ariadne. "…Ah, we used up all the ingredients for today? Roger that." Kuga turned away from them then, calling for his people to go ahead and close up and begin prep for the next day.

For a moment, it was quiet and then Megumi broke down. "Even though Souma-kun and Ari m-m-m-might get expelled for this!"

"You know…Ari and I didn't think we'd be able to compete with him for the first day, but to think they would sell this badly." Souma remarked with a chuckling grin.

"This is no laughing matter!" Megumi cried.

Souma, though, wasn't affected by it. He merely packed up, pushing stall away while Ariadne and Megumi went to meet up with their friends. What they found, was an angry Erina, the girl fuming over the only two booths to end the day in the red: Souma's team and Akira's team. "All of them aside from Ari participated in the Autumn Election's main tournament! How can even all three participants of the final be in the red!? Do you want to depreciate the reputation of the honored Autumn Election!?"

Ariadne, once more back in her school uniform, sat on a bench, legs stretched out along its length, looking happily dazed. Megumi, standing beside her, was the opposite, the girl in tears. "I…I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Th…!" Erina balked in the face of Megumi's tears. "That wasn't directed towards you, Tadokoro-san…"

Across from them, Akira turned on Alice. "How are you taking responsibility for this, Nakiri? You kept making mistakes ordering new ingredients!"

"But weren't you supposed to do the final check, Hayama-kun!?" Alice retorted, cheeks puffed out in annoyance.

"Hey, Kurokiba," Akira turned to Ryou next. "What's up with your master? She kept changing the menu every day until today! That's why we messed up like this!"

"What are you saying…?" A dark look took over Ryou's face then. "She'll probably keep doing that tomorrow."

"Anyway…we must make up for our losses today, we're keeping a stable income from tomorrow on. Let's change gears." Alice said perkily.

"It's pretty much all your fault. Are you even reflecting on it!?" Akira demanded.

Many of the others shared the same opinion that the three had not real teamwork skills. Mito changed the subject by focusing in on the happily dazed Ariadne. "Ari, are you alright?"

A giggle left Ariadne then, a stupid grin splitting her face as she reached up to cup her cheeks. Without any warning, she flopped back on the bench, letting her head hang off the end. An act that couldn't possibly help her with blood flow to her brain, considering she was acting like she didn't have any at the moment. "If we can beat Kuga-senpai in sales, just one day, then I can a super awesome prize from Kuga-senpai himself!" All of the others stared in wide-eyed confusion and horror as Ariadne begun to wiggle on the bench, giggling to herself like a love-struck schoolgirl. Then, snapping out of her happy stupor, Ariadne bolted up to sit up straight, a panicked look on her face. "I just realized…my God, it'll be my first! My current shades just aren't going to cut it! I will definitely have to go shopping."

Confused as to what the girl was talking about, all eyes turned to Megumi, Takumi speaking up. "What is she going on about?"

"Trust me," Megumi heaved a sigh. "You don't want to know. If we can pull it off, everyone will know."

"Are you really going to be fine, Megumi?" Mito asked, concerned. "If you don't make it out of the red, you'll all three get expelled."

"Well, we'll make it somehow." Souma chose then to show up, Mito and Takumi instantly turning on him, demanding to know where he had gotten off to. "Well, I had some things to do. By the way, are you guys hungry? I made huajiao bing with the leftover meatballs, so let's eat them for supper."

Ariadne's hand instantly went up. "Hit me."

Souma handed one over to her, Mito scolding them for being too optimistic and laid back while Alice rushed to try one of the huajiao bing. "By the way, how was the uptown area?" Souma asked, turning to Erina. "Nakiri, you set up a booth with Arato and such, right? What rank were you?"

"Second place." Erina replied.

"Hmm…Nakiri, you were second, huh." Souma repeated, blank faced.

"What is that face for!? It seems your objective is having higher sales than Kuga-san-"

"You know it!" Ariadne cheered, making Erina give her a weird look once more.

"However," Erina turned back to Souma. "The same doesn't apply for the rest of the participants. There are many students who don't fixate on increasing their sales and pursue their own cooking. My restaurant only accepts customers who make a reservation, and we deny the entrance to customers who come in without one. Isshiki-senpai also set his booth's price quite low for the uptown area standards."

"Oh…to each its own, huh." Souma pulled out one of the huajiao bing and begun eating. "Kuga-senpai is just aiming to sell as much as possible, right?"

"Yes…we had a hard time today because of that. Once people start lining up for the Chinese R.S., the line just keeps getting bigger and people just completely stop coming to our stall." Megumi took a depressed bite of her food. "Even though Souma-kun's huajiao bings…are so delicious…if only we got more customers coming in."

"Let's see…" Souma set his food aside and picked up the Totsuki school paper. "These are the sales rankings for the first day, huh. Whoa! The top ranks of the uptown area are all Totsuki Elite Ten members!" Ariadne peeked over Souma's shoulder. "Hmmm, the fourth seat is first place! And Tsukasa-senpai is fifth…I wonder what kind of booth he opened."

"Wah, Isshiki-senpai made it to seventh place even with all that!" Megumi exclaimed.

"You're right! No less from him. But, looking at it like this, Nakiri, you're really amazing. I'll go by your booth so let me eat something." Souma told Erina. "Look, I'll give you a huajiao bing."

"Go get a sheaf of pine tickets before coming to eat at my booth." Erina told him sourly, to no effect on Souma, of course.

"Hmm…? The second seat isn't on the list." Souma remarked. "And I can't see Eizan-senpai either. Are they not participating?"

"Eh? I think he said something about preparing during the Autumn Leaf Viewing." Megumi remarked.

"And…Kuga-senpai got first for the central area, and our stall is…" Souma trailed off when he reached the bottom of the list to find their stall in dead last.

"You got last." Alice said bluntly.

"So did you, Alice." Ariadne remarked idly.

"Anyway! You don't have time to be thinking about other areas." Erina told Souma. "You must concentrate only on defeating Kuga-senpai in the central area."

Ariadne stared at the rankings for a moment before she spoke. "Hey, Souma," All attention turned to Ariadne, the others finding a seriously intent look on Ariadne's face. "Let me make a dish for the stall. I seriously want to crush Kuga-senpai, now." A devilish grin curled her lips, the paper crumpling as her grip on it tightened in excitement. While some of her friends wanted to grill her on what was going through her head, Ariadne didn't have the time. She jumped to her feet, pulling out her cellphone to check the time. "I have to hit the market. I'll see you two back in the kitchen."

With that, Ariadne took off, quick as lightning. By the time she had returned to the dorm, Souma and Megumi were already in bed. Ariadne spent a few more hours awake, fiddling with a recipe she wanted to try, before she headed to bed herself.

The next day, when the results of the second day of the festival came out, Kuga was announced as first place in the central area. Grinning and fanning himself with the newly released Totsuki school paper that contained the rankings, Kuga lounged in his chair. "Well, it's only natural. But you know, I'm starting to feel bad for Yukihira-chin and Ariadne. I mean, they were dead last yesterday." Kuga opened the paper to look at the rankings, the boy stopping in surprise when he saw where Souma's stall fell in the rankings. "Thirty-fifth…for the second day. Oh…they worked hard today…" Kuga looked up but found Souma's stall missing. "Hey, hey, hey! Did any of you see Yukihira-chin today?"

"Come to think of it," replied one member of Kuga's staff. "He might have had more customers than yesterday."

"Ah…you see, that stall…they added a new dish. It looked like noodles." another member added.

"Oh, and then there was the outfit that Sinclair girl wore today!" a third said with a dreamy look on his face. "The skirt yesterday was great, but even the pants and tube top outfit she wore today was hot!"

Kuga smacked the guy over the head with his rolled-up paper, his eyes drifting to where Souma's booth usually stood. It had him curious as to what Souma and Ariadne had done to increase their sells and what new dishes Souma was cooking up.

Only time would tell how it would all end.

-0-0-0-0-

The next day, Ariadne showed up at her booth in a cropped, gold, sleeveless, Taiwanese-styled top with a high collar and dragons in red silk embroidery thread, and a matching pair of pants that were so loose and flowy, it looked like she was wearing a skirt. The cropped end of the top ended just up her breast, the pants belted with a silk belt with an intricate dragon design. She flew around the area for a while, drawing attention to their booth, seemingly unaware that, a few times, Kuga found himself staring at her as she dashed past his stall, a bright smile on her face. About halfway through the day, Ryoko and Yuuki came back their booth.

"Oh, Yoshino and Sakaki!" Souma called in greeting.

"Hmm? What happened with the imonikai?" Megumi asked.

"We're taking breaks in shifts." Ryoko replied.

"More importantly! Are you out of the red yet!?" Yuuki asked.

"Ermm…thanks to our new dish, the Fake Dan Zai Noodles, our sales have grown, but our losses for the first day were really big, so we're still in the red overall." Megumi replied.

Yuuki let out a yell of, "No way!". Ryoko, however was watching as Ariadne came back from running around, grabbing her water bottle to take a drink. "Aren't you three feeling tired?"

"Yes…we were testing dishes until late yesterday." Megumi replied.

"And I still didn't manage to fine tune that new recipe." Ariadne said with a sigh.

"You two can take a break and go take a peek at the other booths, Tadokoro, Ari." Souma told them. "We don't have this festival every day, you're missing out if you don't enjoy it."

"Eh, but…"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Souma insisted when Megumi protested. "We're not getting an amount of customers I can't handle myself anyway!"

"That's not good at all!" Yuuki snapped at him.

"I'm good. My deal with Kuga-senpai is keeping me full of energy." Ariadne replied. "But you really should go, Megumi."

"Are you two really going to be okay?" Ryoko asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'll stay with the booth until you return." Ariadne assured them, waving them off.

The three girls left, Ariadne sticking with Souma while they were gone. Ariadne was leaning over a notebook, working on a recipe idea in-between customer, when she heard the sing-song call of hers and Souma's names. "Yu-ki-hi-ra-chin! Ar-i-ad-ne~!" Ariadne's head popped up to see Kuga coming their way.

"Ah, Kuga-senpai. Want to eat a huajiao bing?" Souma offered.

"Nope!" Kuga turned his attention to Ariadne briefly as she snapped her notebook closed and gave him a bright smile and a wave in greeting. Curious, though trying to hide it, Kuga turned back to Souma. "It seems you two have been working sneakily during the night."

"Sneakily? Whatever do you mean?" Ariadne asked, sending a side glance towards Souma, the two lightly grinning.

"Yeah, yeah! You've added more dishes to your menu…but it's already day three, you know? If you keep doing such bad business just in front of our Kuga Chinese restaurant, you'll be nothing but a bother to us. Can't you just close the booth? Like, right now. Close it, close it, close it! I won't ever forget you were here, Yukihira-chin! Okay? Now, let's hurry and close the booth! Let's do it, c'mon, go away, do it now, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon-…!"

Kuga cut off when Ariadne suddenly popped up beside him and planted a kiss on his cheek. When he turned to look at her, she gave him a smile that, for some reason, had him in mind of being face to face with a demon. "Keep that up, Kuga-senpai, and I might not wait until we best you in sells. You're giving me an itch I can't wait to scratch." The purr that left Ariadne only drove home the meaning behind her words. Before Kuga could say anything, though, she pointed towards his booth. "You have customers to see to, don't you, Kuga-senpai?"

His attention turning to the people still lining up, Kuga took off, Ariadne straightening her back to watch him. "You still like him?" Souma asked.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, he can back up that confidence of his. We'll just see if that feeling continues past us besting him in sells. How he takes the whole thing will decide on whether I collect my reward or not." Ariadne turned to smile at Souma. "So, let's get the best of him, shall we?"

Souma nodded with a smile on his face. They got through the rest of the day and regrouped with Megumi in the kitchen. Megumi was busy making meatballs for their main dishes while Ariadne was working on trying to get a certainly flavor out of a dish she was working on. Souma was just getting off the phone with a friend of his from the shopping district around his house. "Yeah! Thanks, Tomita-san!" Souma turned to Megumi and Ariadne. "Alright! He's going to prepare things for us."

"That's great!" Ariadne replied, picking up a small spoon to scoop a tiny bit of the mixture in the bowl in front of her out to taste. "Hmm…a little more cinnamon sugar." Ariadne turned to her spices while Souma thought about what else they could need.

"What else now…? I'd like a lot of those things around the booth, but I can't think of someone who can help with that…" Souma mused.

Megumi covered for them, calling in reinforcements of her own. Once done, the two turned to Ariadne as she tested her mixture once more. "Ah! Parfaite!"

"What are you making, Ari?" Megumi asked.

"Right now, this is a mixture of cream cheese, cinnamon sugar and grated chocolate toffee. I'll be spreading it on lumpia, topping with crushed pineapple and frying it to make dessert spring rolls." Ariadne replied, working on spreading the mixture on her wrappers. She quickly moved on to rolling and sealing them, laying them out on a pan to freeze overnight. "I'll make a few test examples that will only freeze an hour, so that we can taste them before we decide to add them."

"While we're waiting on that, we can work on the mapo doufu." Souma agreed.

Ariadne nodded, putting the tray in the freezer before she moved to help Souma and Megumi. The three worked tirelessly for the next few hours until they finished the mapo doufu recipe. Once they were satisfied with that, Ariadne returned to her spring rolls, pulling out a small tray she had frozen for testing. She heated up some oil and dropped them in, frying until golden brown. Pulling them out, she patted them dry with paper towels and rolled lightly in left over cinnamon sugar. "Here we go."

Ariadne placed one before both Souma and Megumi, taking one for herself. Blowing on them first, the three took a bite. They were all instantly swarmed by the juices of the pineapple, the sweetness increased by the sugar while also getting the kick of cinnamon and the bitter sweetness of the chocolate toffee. Megumi swallowed the bite and let out a hum of approval. "It's so good, Ari!"

"It's good, but…" Ariadne trailed off as she stared at the spring roll. "I feel like it could use a bit more of a kick. What do you think, Souma?"

Souma thoroughly chewed the bite, letting the flavor play over his tongue. "You're right. The taste is all sweet except for that one little kick of cinnamon. It needs something a little more intense."

"More cinnamon, maybe?" Megumi asked.

"Maybe, but I don't want to upset the balance of cinnamon I have right now. There has to be something else I can add to bring a little more intensity to it, without getting an overpowering cinnamon taste." Ariadne leaned against the counter as she thought. While they considered what to add, Ariadne's eyes scanned the kitchen. When they landed on the spice cabinet, she pushed herself away from the counter to look at them, hoping to get some inspiration. It was then that her eyes landed on one particular spice. "Ah! That's it!"

"What is it, Ari?" Megumi asked.

"Candied ginger! No, better yet, crystalized ginger!" Ariadne gasped. "I'll be right back." Ariadne rushed out of the kitchen. Twenty minutes passed before she came back with a jar in hand. "Got it. I'm so glad I made some of this a while back." Ariadne placed the jar on the counter. Inside was sliced ginger that shined with some kind of coating.

"What's the difference between candied ginger and crystalized ginger?" Souma asked.

"Candied ginger is sugar-soaked and stored in syrup while crystalized ginger is coated in sugar and dried out. The big difference between the two is the texture of the end result. All you need is fresh ginger, sugar, lemon and fresh vanilla bean. My sister and I snack on these all the time. The flavor is intense with just the right amount of kick I'm looking for." Ariadne replied, opening the jar. Pulling her bowl of left-over cream cheese mixture to herself, she picked it up along with the jar and moved to the food processor. She scooped the cream cheese mixture into the processor and added some of the ginger. Closing a lid on it, she hit the power button. Slowing, the already brownish mixture obtained a golden hue to it. When it was mixed enough, Ariadne picked up a spoon and scooped a little out to taste it. When her eyes lit up, she turned to her friends. "Try it."

Souma and Megumi both tried a taste, the two quickly agreeing that it was perfect. Happy with the result, Ariadne made up a big batch of the filling, Souma and Megumi helping her to roll and seal them. Once they were in the freezer, ready to spend the night freezing and they made sure everything else was ready for the next day, they headed to bed, Ariadne practically wiggling out of her skin.

-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, Ariadne donned her favorite outfit by far, leaving her dorm room dressed in a cropped, sleeveless version of the same kind of top that Kuga wore while cooking. The bottoms were a pair of pants much like his, too, slits opening up the sides along her thighs to allow airflow and loose material hanging in the front and back. She finished the look by pulling her hair back with decorative Chinese hairpins and adding slipper-like shoes like Kuga's. The whole outfit was in Ariadne's signature aqua blue, tigers embordered into the fabric with black thread. Tickled to see Kuga's reaction when she turned up in a similar outfit to his, she left the dorms with Megumi and Souma to meet up with Tomita who had brought benches for them to set up.

Kuga showed up just as Tomita sat down to eat a meal offered to him by Souma and Souma and Ariadne got to work on cooking. "You sure are a shallow thinker, Yukihira-chin." Ariadne and Souma both turned to look at the second year, Ariadne hiding a grin when she saw the way Kuga paused, his eyes scanning her in pleasant surprise. Kuga gave himself a mental shake and turned back to Souma. "This is what you came up with after thinking so frantically? Figuring more customers will come if you add more seats, isn't that a bit toooooo simplistic? Even if you just can't win in terms of flavor."

"Well, this certainly is my first Moon Banquet Festival. Ari's too, right, Ari?"

"Indeed, and we don't do things like this back home." Ariadne replied as she started heating the fryer, she was going to use for her spring rolls.

"And we're both just newbies who transferred here half a year ago, but in terms of how long we've run a restaurant…both Ari and I have about ten more years of experience than you, senpai." The dark look on Kuga's face had a sharp breath leaving Ariadne. Souma wondered for a moment if her knees were going to give, but he ignored it, turning back to his cooking. "Besides…"

Megumi and Ariadne got moving then, Megumi working on the noodles for Souma while Ariadne got to frying her spring rolls. "Souma-kun, here!" Megumi passed the noodles over to Souma.

Kuga and his staff were pretty confident that Souma couldn't compete with them with a simple mapo noodles, but then Souma added a specially prepared meatball to the top just as Ariadne served up an order of two spring rolls, a creamy dipping sauce served alongside them. Souma glanced over his shoulder at Kuga, grinning. "Didn't I say I'm beating you with my cooking?"

"Souma-chan," Tomita spoke up then, looking down at the bowl of mapo noodles in his hands. "What's this?"

"Well, Tomita-san, first try eating that meatball without crumbling it." Souma suggested.

While Tomita did as asked, really enjoying his meal, Kuga got called back to his booth, Ariadne waving her fingers at him with big grin on her face. Kuga couldn't help but get a bad feeling from the grin on her face. It was like she knew something he didn't. Even though Tomita really enjoyed his dish, he could see the way people flocked to Kuga's booth. "But you won't defeat the opponent's dish in terms of impact like this. Their booth's appearance and dishes are overwhelming? They're flawless…!" Tomita exclaimed.

"Oh, not nearly so." Tomita and Megumi both turned to look at Souma and Ariadne who were watching Kuga's booth, Ariadne having been the one to speak.

"Completely satisfying all your customers is tough even for a pro with more than a decade of experience." Souma said in agreement with Ariadne.

"Eventually, their long line and lack of numerous seats will be their downfall." Ariadne added, confident in her statement. As it was, there was a lot of discontentment among those still standing in line for Kuga's.

"We've been observing them all this time. Kuga Chinese Restaurant's weakness is something that just wasn't plainly visible yet." Souma agreed before turning to Tomita. "Well now…Tomita-san! Take that meatball, dip it completely in the mapo doufu, and split it!"

Tomita did as told, finding a little orb inside the meatball that released a wave of aroma as soon as it hit the hot broth and began to melt into it. "This smell…there's no mistaking it! It's curry! It's a fragrant curry which would make anyone's cheeks melt!"

"The moon melt's little by little and mixes up with the mapo doufu!" Souma explained. "Oh! It's about time. This is the best moment to eat it. It's done!"

Tomita gave it another try and practically melted from the flavor. "What's with this flavor!? The spices! They're very stimulating, yet mild and gentle! It's as if they are carefully wrapping around me and permeating my flesh and bones! This is…! A new Chinese dish that you created, Souma-chan!?"

"I made a soup out of beef bones and added a few different curry spices, garlic, and ginger to it to make a special curry dashi…that's the moon's identity." Souma explained. "This is Yukihira revamped's second dish! The "Time Fuse Mapo Curry Noodles"!"

"Here, Tomita-san, now try these for dessert." Tomita turned to Ariadne as she offered him some fresh out of the fryer, spring rolls. Tomita took them, taking a bite of one. Much like with Souma's dish, he melted, the mix of spices and sweetness taking over his tongue. "Now try dipping it in the dipping sauce." When he did as told, it was like a jolt to his system, giving him a pleasant pick-me-up.

"This is so delicious, Ari-chan! What is it?" Tomita asked.

"They dessert spring rolls. Cream cheese, crushed pineapple, cinnamon sugar, chocolate toffee and crystalized ginger make up the filling. It's all rolled up in lumpia and fried and then rolled in a thin layer of cinnamon sugar. The dipping sauce is a mix of powdered sugar, ground crystalized ginger and milk with just a sprinkle of cinnamon. It's my Sugar and Spice spring rolls. You know what they say, Tomita-san," Ariadne eyes drifted over to where Kuga was watching from his booth, her lips curling. "Sugar and spice and everything nice."

Hearing about the dishes and smelling the wonderful smells, they managed to pull half of Kuga's line from his booth. With the swarm of customers, Souma turned to Ariadne. "Ari, you're turn!"

"Already on it." Ariadne pulled a pair of Bluetooth headphones out of her bag, slipping them over her head before she returned to her fryer which had been set up a little way from the rest of the booth for an exceptionally good reason. Ariadne hit play on her music, her head and hips starting to sway with the beat. The beat started out slow, Ariadne picking up the strainer spoons she would use to fish finished spring rolls out of the fryer with, putting one in each hand after putting the first round of spring roll orders into the fryer. And then the beat picked up. "Here we go! So put your best face on, everybody. Pretend like you know this song, everybody. Come hand, let's go out bang. Bang, bang, bang. Bang, bang! I'm way too young to lie here forever. I'm way too old to try so whatever, come hang. Let's go out with a bang!"

As she started to sing now and then, Ariadne twirled the spoons, moving back and forth as she started scooping out finished spring rolls, adding new ones, and rolling the finished ones in cinnamon sugar. She did it all with amazing, practiced speed, her body never ceasing it movement, even when she would give the spoons a flip, easily catching them once more to move on to the next task. The constantly movement and singing of Ariadne drew more customers' attention. "Man, I'm up to something. Ooh de la de do, thank you for coming. I hope you like the show, 'cause it's on a budget." Ariadne chuckled a little at that part, having picked the song mainly because of the wording in that part of the lyrics.

By this point, Mimasaka had arrived as back up for the cooking. Between the new dishes, Mimasaka's help, and the entertaining show Ariadne made flipping spoons and spring rolls through the air with practiced ease, her body never ceasing in its dance, Souma's little booth drew in more and more customers. Kuga couldn't help but sweat just a little bit as he watched Souma, Mimasaka and Ariadne match their timing to each other, Ariadne moving with the biggest smile on her face as she cooked.

And then Kuga caught sight of the grin Souma cast him, Ariadne blowing a kiss to him as she smirked as well. What Kuga had originally thought of as a pair of weak kittens had proven to be more along the lines of ferocious lions. Though, Kuga still felt that the nickname that had started to circulate around the school for Ariadne was far more fitting for the girl.

Blue Devil.

With the sinful way she moved, a smirk directed his way, Kuga was starting to feel like he had made a deal with the devil.

The four, though, made a good team. Megumi saw to the customers, leading to their seats, making sure they had what they needed. She handled the orders and customers with steady smiles and charm. Mimasaka and Souma worked at an incredible speed, the two matching each other with ease while Ariadne kept up with them and entertained the customers with her tricks and how fast she could make the spring rolls while never ceasing movement. Children who had come with their parents, stared in rapture at Ariadne as she would flip a spring roll in the air, turning on the spot to catch it behind her back, little rounds of applause sounding when she revealed she had caught it. Her sway turned to more popping movements as her song changed, the girl instantly adjusting her movements and timing with the spring rolls to match the new song. "Won't listen to any advice, Momma's telling me I should think twice. Better left to my own devices, I'm addicted, it's a crisis. My friends think I've gone crazy, my judgments getting kinda hazy. My steeze is gonna to be affected if I keep it up like a lovesick crack head."

The four kept it up, moving non-stop even as the sun started to set. Thankfully, just as it was starting to get dark, Megumi's back up showed up with lanterns for them to hang around their booth and seating area, allowing them to continue on for a while longer. Even then, it slowly became tougher for the four of them to keep up with the pace. It was at this time that Ariadne was extremely grateful for the friends she had made since coming to Totsuki. Both Mito and the Aldini brothers, whose booths had already closed for the evening, showed up to help them. With one hour left until the day's sales were tallied, they all rallied for one last sprint to the finish line.

When the results were revealed, Souma and his stall had taken first place in sells for the central are that day.

Ariadne was beside herself, the girl practically wiggling on the spot. She was so happy, she threw her arms around Mito's and Megumi's neck, a big, happy smile on her face that was genuinely one of pure joy. Now she just had to see how Kuga took the loss and then decide if she would claim her prize or not. Before she could pull herself back together though, she heard someone calling Kuga's name. Turning, she found the third year, Kobayashi, running towards Kuga with a big grin on her face.

"You really lost in sales? Kugaaaaa!" Kobayashi threw her arm around Kuga's shoulders. "Boy, Kuga, you really are hopeless! Aren't you Kuga!?"

"Oh, shut up!" Kuga elbowed her in the side to try to get her off. "I don't want to hear that from someone who's not participating in the Moon Banquet Festival just to go around eating!"

"What are you saying? Going around eating is a way of participating." Kobayashi replied, munching on a meat bun in her hands. "And you know, it's because you stayed in your booth aaaall the time that you lost to your kouhai's stall, am I wrong?"

"Oh, shut up, shut up, shut up!"

Ariadne couldn't really blame Kuga for blowing up the way he did. Kobayashi really wasn't making it easy for the poor guy. It was almost like watching a little brother and his big sister, the way the two went at it. Ariadne kind had the urge to join in and join Kobayashi in teasing Kuga, but from the way the boy looked at the moment, glaring at Kobayashi, Ariadne thought it better not to. She didn't want to make him hate her, after all.

Kuga finally collected himself, taking a deep breath. "He got me…with this, all went according to Yukihira-chin's plan." It was a humble admittance, at least. Not that Souma and Ariadne would let him off that easily.

"What are you talking about, Kuga-senpai." Kuga looked up at Ariadne as her hands went to her hips. "The Moon Banquet Festival is five days long the last time I check. Right, Souma?"

"Yeah." Souma against. "I can't really say I won unless I beat you with the total of the five days. The challenge is still ongoing!"

Ariadne covered a laugh as Souma stomped away. She gave the two upperclassmen a wave before turning to join Souma in cleaning up. She could, and would, claim her prize afterward. Working quickly, Ariadne helped in cleaning and storing their supplies before promising to meet Souma, Mimasaka and Megumi at the kitchen to prepare for the last day of the festival. With that, Ariadne went off in search of Kuga, hoping he was still on school grounds. When she found him, she found him in the uptown area with the other members of the Elite Ten as Eizan went over preparations for the last day and Kobayashi and Nene teased Kuga for losing to Souma in sales that day.

Ariadne couldn't imagine a better time to claim her prize.

"Yoo-hoo!" All ten looked up when Ariadne called out, approaching them with her hands clasped behind her back. She was still wearing her costume for the day, making Erina gasp at her.

"Ari, what are you wearing!?" she demanded.

"Oh, this? Just one of the four costumes I've worn the last few days to help draw I customers at Souma's booth. Trust me, the first day's was way worse." Ariadne replied, waving a hand in dismissal. Of course, the comment just angered Eizan, but Ariadne ignored him with a flip of the hand. Turning, Ariadne laid her eyes on Kuga. "I was looking for you."

"Me?" Kuga raised an eyebrow, obviously forgetting the deal that he had made with Ariadne. "What could you possibly want from m-…!"

Eyes went wide, some jaws dropping, Erina even going red in face when Ariadne just surged forward, cutting Kuga off as she claimed his mouth in a kiss. She took hold of both sides of his face to hold him in pace, Kuga's eyes going wide in shock when he felt just the barest hint of metal from her tongue piercing before she pulled back, smirking down at him. There was a joyful, content look on her face as she bit her bottom lip. "I feel so much better now. Thank you for helping me to scratch that itch, Te-ru-no-ri~!" Ariadne gave his nose a boop and whipped around on her heels, practically skipping away from them.

Erina stuttered over the sudden romantic display, Kuga just staring wide eyed after her. If he was being honest…he hadn't actually expected her to claim her prize. He was too stunned to speak, but Isshiki just sighed, calling out to Ariadne. "Did you to do that here, Ari?"

"Yep!" Ariadne spun to walk backwards. "After all, a deal's a deal. He should have known better than to make a deal with the devil. I live up to my name." With that, Ariadne gave them a wink and spun back around, happily skipping away with a wave over her shoulder. "Bye, bye!"

All eyes turned to Kuga, who stood there gaping. Kobayashi was quick to tease him, Eizan grumbling about Ariadne and her outrageous displays. Erina was still trying to collect herself while Isshiki waved a hand in front of Kuga's face, getting no response from the boy. With a sigh, Isshiki claimed that Ariadne had claimed another victim.

Kuga could on think that he underestimated more than just Souma.

END

Ariadne: YES!

Kyandi: Are you happy now?

Ariadne: Oh, beyond!

Kyandi: Good. The songs I used this time are Bang! By ARJ and Your Love is My Drug by Kesha. I had them on loop as I was writing.

Ariadne: You don't know how many times she stopped just to sing and dance along.

Kyandi: That's the part of my personality that gave birth to you. You're welcome.

Ariadne; Yes, yes, I'm grateful.

Kyandi: Good! Anyway, I want to end my night by playing video games with friends, so, everyone, enjoy and review.

Ariadne: We'll try to be back tomorrow.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!