Chapter 7: The Rice Bowl Battle!

In Ikumi's dorm room, she is trying on some different outfits (more like bikini tops) to prepare for her Food War. She tries out the one with the United States flag with her breasts jiggling.

She sighs, "I need something that inspires."

Then she tries on one with leopard skin pattern with a leopard roaring in the background...and more jiggling.

"Now, that's not it."

She tries the one with a cowboy theme while wearing a red scar and cowboy hat with the sound of a revolver being shot in the background...with more jiggling.

"Still not quite there yet. I need something special today." She looks and smiles after finding one. "Oh, now we're talking!"

She puts on a white one with red flames with the sound of an explosion in the background as her breasts jiggles.

Around the academy, a few days ago, the students received news about the upcoming Food War from the newspapers spreading across the campus.

"Haven't you heard about today's Food War?" one of the male students asks while in the hallway.

"Yeah!" another male students responds, "It's Meat-Meat versus the Bowl Club. Man, you gotta feel bad for them. I mean, Erina has it out for them."

Another male student runs up with a newspaper in hand, "Yo! Have you read the Totsuki's Sports!? It says that the transfer student from the Special Region is defending bowl club! They're going to use the ingredients from the Special Region!"

"Seriously?" one of the students asks with a gang of students in the classroom door.

"Yeah! Yet Meat-Meat will have the advantage since she is only using two Special Region ingredients while the Saiba Yukihira will only use one."

"But he may have a chance." one of the female students say at the door, "He is from the Special Region. Who knows what kind of tricks he has up his sleeves."

But another female students says, "Yeah, but at least we get to see what they look like."

Cutting to present day, everyone has gathered at the stadium to watch the Food War. In the prep room, Saiba is getting ready as he looks over his ingredients. There is a cardboard box containing a lot of onions while there is a cooler filled with all the other ingredients such as red wine sauce, the meat, and the secret ingredient.

Kanichi says "Here's all the ingredients you'll need for the battle. I got everything you asked for."

Saiba nods, "Great." He stands up with a smile on his face while looking at Kanichi, "Thanks for you're help, Kan-Kon."

"Kan-Kon?"

"It's a nickname I made for ya. It's the first three leaders of your first name and last name combined."

Kanichi gives a sour look, "Yeah, no. I don't like it."

Saiba laughs as Megumi looks out through the waiting room door that is opened a little. She stares out to the entry way to the arena as the crowd is getting anxious for the Food War to start as she imagines hundreds of people will be watching.

Megumi starts to get scared, 'So many people!' and becomes even more scared than before. She approaches Saiba while in her stage frighten state, "Saiba, whatever you do, don't look out at the audience. You don't want to lose your nerve!"

Saiba places his right hand on Megumi's head before she does that weird thing about drawing X's on her hand and eating them. Saiba is cool and collected, "It'll be fine." he assures her. "I've cooked in front of a lot of people before. The only thing that is different is that there is a whole lot more people. Besides, you don't have to worry since I'm going, not you."

"But..."

Saiba pets her head, "Calm down now. No need to worry."

"Sorry for the wait, you guys!" Urara Kawashima is standing at center stage. "The Food War Administrative Bureau have officially recognize this challenge as a Food War."

The crowd cheers as the Food War is about to begin.

"And as always, I will be your MC. I'm Urara Kawashima. Freshman in the high school division. Love you!" she gives a wink.

The boys in fanclub outfits dedicated to the manipulative vixen cheered out, "YOU'RE THE CUTEST THING EVER!"

While the girls give a malevolent aura of jealousy with glowing red eyes glaring at her.

Urara smiles and waves, "He-ey!" and does a cute pose.

The boys love her but the girls hate her even more.

"Now then, from their respective corners, here comes the contestants!"

The crowd cheers as Ikumi comes out wearing a black outfit that hides her face and body with two men in suits behind her.

"The first contestant to join the battle." The screen above shows Ikumi's name in white kanji before red flames are seen and Ikumi unveils herself. "The Meat Master, Ikumi Mito!"

A lot of boys cheer for her (for obvious reasons) as Urara just smile and giggles.

But inside her mind, she is furious, 'Oh don't go flaunting those big utters of yours, little hussy! I'm the one the boys ever need! I am the cutest thing that has ever walked this earth!' She smiles with sparkles around her as she introduces Saiba, "And now, introduce our next contestant."

The screen above shows Saiba's name in white kanji with blue flames.

Some of the students murmur among themselves as they have no idea on whether to cheer or shame Saiba. What exactly can they do with this enigma from another world? Cheer him on? Or shame him?

Urara just smiles, "Introducing our transfer student who has great reviews at the academy, Saiba Yukihira!"

Saiba walks out into the arena with stage frighten Megumi and unsure Kanichi behind him.

Two students try to figure out who will win with one asking, "So, who do you think is gonna win?"

"The Meat Master against a total newbie that specialize in ingredients from another world? Hard to say. But this should be an interesting match."

Back at the arena, Kanichi looks around and asks, "What is with everybody? It's like they have no idea on what is going on."

Saiba gives a sigh as he approaches Urara. He takes the mic from her and says with a smile, "Hey, everyone! I hope you will cheer me on on my very first Food War!" He does the same cute pose that Urara did earlier. "Cutsey!"

The audience's hearts went 'ba-thump' when seeing Saiba's cute, girly face; both male and female students as their faces are all blushed.

One of the female students say to her friend, "Hey, since that Urara bitch has a fan club, why not start our own with him?"

She says, "Yeah. He's cuter than Urara."

The girls in the section cheer, "YOU'RE CUTER THAN URARA! GO WIN, SAIBA!"

Megumi passes out and Kanichi had to drag her out of there.

One of the male students turn his head away and still blushing, "Yeah, well, he's a dude. A dude with a girly face. So what?"

Another male student says, "I am so confuse right now."

Urara gets furious, 'DAMMIT! Now I got this guy stealing everyone! I hope you lose, you bastard! I'm the cutest thing, NOT YOU!' She grabs the mic back, "Okay. Let's continue! Let's have a quick review of the rules, shall we?" She introduces the judges, "We have three honorary judges. The theme is rice bowls. And the main ingredient for today's battle is: Meat!"

Ikumi stares at Saiba as Saiba just pays attention to what Urara has to say. Yet she smiled when the word 'meat' was said. Everyone from Polar Star, except Isshiki, watches the Food War.

"If Ikumi Mito wins, the Rice Bowl Research Society will be disbanded and Saiba Yukihira will be...um... What was it again?"

The person in-charge of the Food Wars, Hisanao Kageura, approaches Urara and whispers in her ear.

After he was done, Urara screamed out, "SAY WHAT!?" which caused some feedback in the speakers that hurt everyone's ears. Saiba suffers the worse because he has an extra pair of sensitive ears hiding because of his necklace. "Saiba Yukihira will be Erina Nakiri's husband!?"

Many of the students are still recovering from the feedback with one male student asking, "What did she say?!" as his ears are still ringing.

"I think she says that he has to marry Erina Nakiri." another student says.

Saiba jaw drops as he goes, "HUH?!" in great surprise.

"She's joking right?" Yuki tries to deny it. But she looks at Zenji, "Is that a rule?"

Zenji adjust his cracked glasses, "I'm not entirely sure. I'm not even sure that's legal or not."

"Seriously, bro?!" both Daigo and Shoji asked in unison.

Ryoko says, "But remember when Saiba said that Erina kissed him? She must be after his flavor."

"Huh?" everyone from Polar Star looked at Ryoko.

Megumi woke-up, "What did I miss?"

Urara just shakes it off and continues, "But if Saiba wins, the Bowl Club will get more funding and additional cooking facilities. Also, Ikumi will be a member of Bowl Club and Saiba will remain a free man."

Saiba starts to sweet with his fists shaking and teeth chattering. 'HELL NO!' his mind screamed, 'THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I'M GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THAT...THAT...LICKING DEMON!' But Saiba closes his eyes and calms down. 'Stop. I need to calm down and focus. Cooking is supposed to be fun and the ingredients will sense my fear. If they do, they won't turn out right.'

"Hey there, short timer." Ikumi does some smack talk, "I hope you will enjoy your last and final hours as a bachelor. If you have any last words, now's the time." Her face is starting to turn red because of the reward Erina promised her.

Saiba opens his eyes and put on his headband, "Let's get started." When he said that, there was no fear or nervousness in his voice. He is calm as he can be despite the situation he is in.

However, everyone's attention is turned to the VIP section as they see Erina Nakiri along with her attendant, who is about to watch this particular Food War. They all look at her as she is about to sit down.

"Look over there!" one of the male students say.

"It's Erina Nakiri."

One of the female students say, "OMG, it's her!"

Erina looks down from her red, fancy cushy seat as she gives a dignify look with Hisako standing beside her with her clipboard. Saiba gives no attention to her as he waits for the Food War to begin. He is keeping out all distractions as he mentally prepares for what he is gonna cook.

"Whoa!" Yuki says, "She's here in person."

Shun states, "Since Saiba is being forced into marrying Erina if he loses, she has to attend."

Erina smiles at Saiba, 'Well, Saiba Yukihira. I am so looking forward to this. I cannot wait for you to be mine.' She grips tightly on the arms of the chair, 'All mine. I can't wait to enjoy the sweet, succulent flavor of your lips again.' She shift her gaze at Ikumi.

Ikumi smiles and nodded at Erina, 'Don't worry, Miss Erina, I will win.'

Urara speaks, "Contestants, are you ready? Get to your cooking stations."

Saiba is standing at his cooking station with an emotionless expression on his face. Ikumi, on the other hand, is very eager at her station.

"It is winner takes all. In this battle, the winner will be decided by the palette. Let the FOOOOD WAAAR begin!"

DING! The bell ding as a signal to begin as the crowd cheers.

While Saiba is peeling some of his onions, Ikumi shouts, "Hey! Transfer Student! I'm gonna show you the ultimate meat ingredient I'm gonna beat you with from your world!"

Saiba looked with the corner of his eye.

"Presenting, the greatest form of meat!" Ikumi shows off the Marbled Meat Boulder as it stands six feet high on a cart, covered in a brown, rocky material.

"Holy cow!" Kanichi says in astonishment, "I never seen meat from a rock! That must be some spectacular meat that must be greater than A5."

Megumi gets nervous and can't say anything.

Ikumi pulls out her cleaver and tries cutting the rock. However, her cleaver gets stuck.

"What the-?" She tries to pull it out. 'What is going on? I tried this on smaller boulders and it turned out fine.' Ikumi struggles to get her cleaver out of the rock.

Saiba stops peeling his onions and sighs when hearing Ikumi struggling. He drops everything and tells Ikumi, "Stand back."

Ikumi stands back as Saiba punches the boulder which caused its rocky shell to break into pieces. Saiba then ribs the flesh with his bare hands and pulls out the best meat from the boulder.

"Here." he tosses it to Ikumi.

Ikumi catches it and finds out that the hunk of flesh she needs is a lot heavier than she thought.

"Did he just helped out his opponent?" Daigo asks.

"What is he thinking!?" Yuki gets upset, "Doesn't he know that he's helping someone that is trying to get him hitch too soon!?"

Urara asks, "Saiba just helped out his opponent. Is that alright?"

Hisanao says, "Since these are ingredients that we don't have much knowledge about, and Saiba Yukihira is from the same world as the ingredients, it should be fine for the time being."

"You heard the man, it is okay!"

Saiba gives some advice and glares threatening, "Listen: I don't know what the hell you've been practicing on, but the bigger the boulder, the tougher the outer layer is gonna be. Not to mention the concentration of the flavor at its core. If you're gonna take me on with ingredients from my homeworld," he angrily glares at her, "you better do your homework. And you call yourself the Meat Master? Pathetic."

Ikumi is getting shivers down her spine when he glares at her. Then she puts the heavy slab of mineral meat onto a cooking sheet.

"Dude!" Daigo shouts in amazement, "That is some major beef!"

"I'm not sure that's beef, bro!" Shoji states while also amazed, "But yeah, that's some marbling! It has some sweet luster!"

Ikumi touches the meat slab and smells it to check its subtle sweetness and gluconic acids. 'Perfect. Despite what he did, he got the best cut of meat from the boulder. Even with that setback, it will be cooked by the ultimate hands: mine.'

Then she starts frying it in a large pan. "First, fry the surface to give it some color. Scoop up the butter and pour it onto it's glistening surface." She does that and there is a wonderful aroma in the air.

"The aroma of melted butter is wolfing throughout the whole building. Ah. It's making ravenous from the scent alone."

Everyone watches as the scent draws them in.

Daigo says, "So rad." as the smell wolfs over.

Ikumi smiles, 'This process creates a barrier that traps the savory juices inside. Next...' She puts it in the oven, "It goes into the oven. This will apply heat to the meat's interior. Now then," she turns to look at Saiba's process, 'what about the transfer student.'

Saiba has one onion in the air as he makes one vertical and one horizontal cuts that somehow instantly diced it. Then he did it again.

"Oh my gosh! I never seen such knife work! He dices the onions into the air with just two slashes! He seems to be dicing a lot of onions though." She looks at Saiba, "Just how do you think he plans on using them all?" But she sees Saiba pulling something out of the cooler that is in a plastic bag, "Wha-ha? It looks like he's bringing out the meat. How will it stack up against the Meat Boulder?"

Saiba reaches in and pulls out the meat. However, they see the bag that reads, 'It's Cheap! Super-Cheap Supermarket S*E*N*D*A*I'.

"Huh?!"

The students are thrown off when they see the label of the bag, including the students of Polar Star. Saiba pulls out a Japanese Sirloin Steak that is half-priced for 700 yen.

Ikumi is all white and gives off a gloomy aura and a disapproval look, "It...was on sale?"

Urara has also turned white, giving off a gloomy aura but gives the look of shock, "Half-priced?!"

Saiba realizes everyone is giving him bizarre looks and goes, "Heh. I got it at a good bargain." Before everyone went up in an uproar and saying that he is disgracing the meat, Saiba puts on a sad cute face as he says, "Come on now. It was all I can afford. I'm barely scrapping by with the allowance I got." some tears swell up, "Would you please over look this and let me cook?"

The students keep their mouths shut while they have blushing cheeks.

Back at the V.I.P. section, Hisako says to Erina, "That Saiba can really manipulate a crowd with those charms of his." with her cheeks all blushing. "Miss Erina?"

Erina has a nose bleed with spirals for pupils on her eyes and a really big smile on her face.

Hisako freaks out, "Miss Erina! Blood! Blood! Blood!"

Back at the arena, Kanichi looks with his face completely flustered, "That is one tactic to win over a crowd." He looks at Megumi, "Don't you...think...?"

Megumi is passed out again.

Ikumi shakes it off as she heads towards the oven to pull out her finely cooked meat as the juices are still sizzling next to a finely coated brown chunk of flesh from a rock. She then pulls out her meat skewer to check the temperature.

At the V.I.P. section, Erina asks Hisako with two tissues in her nostrils that make her sound funny, "Do you know what it is that makes her different?"

Ikumi pokes the meat loaf with the skewer as the juices start leaking out.

Hisako replies, "Aside from the cuts that she would usually make, it's the way she treats it."

Ikumi pulls out the skewer and press it on her lips.

"That is correct. But her true worth is her delicate touch. She knows exactly what the meat needs. There's no one more sensitive."

Ikumi checks the temperature as she whispers, "Sixty-four degrees. No, it's more like sixty-five." She removes the skewer from her lips, "Perfect."

Erina continues as she taps her left foot in anticipation, "And Ikumi Mito knows that the lips are the most sensitive part of the human body. That being said, when it comes to distinguishing the appropriate temperature, she's on another level."

Ikumi cuts the meat with a knife into finely thin cuts as the aroma escapes and golden glittery sparkles come flying out.

"And when she touches the meat, her prowess becomes even more evident."

"She's something else." Hisako compliments.

"Watch closely. See how her fingertips caress the grains with loving attention?"

Ikumi caresses the meat very delicately as sparkles fly out of her fingertips for every time she caress the meat.

In Erina's mind, she imagines Ikumi in a white, frilly dress with a pink flower on her left side and around her waists as she plays a piano up in the heavens.

"She is like a pianist playing an elegant solo. A silent melody for the heavens. A carnivorous senada of meat."

While cutting the meat, Ikumi says in her mind, 'I will give Miss Erina a victory. And I shall have my greatest reward.'

However, Ikumi's train of thought is interrupted when Saiba flipped some onions on his pan. The smell it releases hits Ikumi hard as she starts to become weaken in the knees, face all flustered and nearly dropped her knife. Her entire body feels some sort of sensation.

She looks at Saiba while feeling a bit weak, "Just...what is he...?" But she shakes it off as time is running out.

Almost one minute to go on the screen as Urara says, "Okay, time's almost up."

The chefs make last minute finishes to their dishes as the crowd watches in anticipation as the countdown is almost over. Once it did a dong is heard that signals that time is up and the screen reads, 'TIME OVER'. Megumi gets back up and notices that time is up.

"And we're done! We will now begin judgement. First up; Ikumi Mito!"

Ikumi presents the judges with her rice bowl in some fancy bowels with wavy edges. It is a donburi bowl with the Marbled Meat Boulder's flesh carved into beautiful flower petals, with each bite giving a sense of extra deep deliciousness. Coupled with superb garlic rice fried with beef tallow and butter. But that is no ordinary garlic in the bowl. It contains Garlips.

"This is a Marbled Meat Boulder Roti Rice Bowl. Made with the meat from the Marbled Meat Boulder topped on garlic rice with the garlic made from Garlips."

The crowd is amazed along with the judges.

"Roti is French for roast or broiled. So basically, it's like food that has been done in the oven. Duh! I love you!" Urara winks and does a peace sign.

The first judge is Shigeno Kuraki, president of the Japanese restaurant Kuraki. "The meat has been cut so that it resembles a flower in bloom. I never dreamed I set eyes on a rice bowl with such beauty."

The judges take their spoons and dig in.

Kuraki feels every explosion of meat juices in her mouth.

In her mind, she is in some purple and pink swirling vortex with a white flower in the center. "It's so delicious! I'm getting weak in the knees! Aaahaa~!

Back in reality, Yoshiko Bito, who is the beef critic for Kuroge Wagyu, takes another look at it. "So amazing. This profound depth of flavor is truly on par with A5 beef of a Kobe beef from Hyogo prefecture. I may even consider it A6, a new category of flavor. Despite the fact she had help retrieving the core of the boulder, she managed to take great care of it. Even the angle of heat was taken into consideration. When the flames apply to the right angle of the fiber's direction which causes the meat to form uniformly and allows the juices to run freely. Taking the meat's fiber into account is the mark of a TRUE master chef!"

Katsunori Okamoto, the producer of a televised series First-Class Gluttons, says his remarks, "And underneath these, 'petals', the garlic rice was cooked in melted butter and beef fat! The Garlips gives it a wonderful taste. Savory yet mellow to the tongue. I would happily eat five bowls of these exquisite rice alone. The way this dish was made you may even call it sensuous. The execution is simply incredible."

The crowd are in awe that Ikumi managed to make such a dish with ingredients from another world. However, Saiba is giving a look of disapproval because he knows something.

'What do you think, transfer student?' Ikumi wonders what Saiba thinks, 'This is the pleasure of the flesh. Soon I will get my own pleasurable flesh once I win.'

In the V.I.P. section, Erina smile so wide that that her lower right lip started to crack and bleed and taps her foot faster in the anticipation of, not only Ikumi's victory, but hers as well. She started to droll as she grips the arms of her chair tightly that you can hear the fabric about to be shredded from her fingernails as well as a wet spot appearing where she is sitting. Hisako gulps and seems to be flustered with the thought of what she and Erina are gonna do.

One of the male students say, "Well, that had just about do it." he speaks with a angry look on his face. "Looks like he gets to be Erina's bitch."

Another male student beside him says in an upset manner, "He better have something better than that. Or I'm gonna kill him if he marries her."

Kanichi and Megumi notices that things aren't looking too good.

"Things aren't looking too good."

Megumi looks worried, "Everyone is acting like Ikumi had already won."

Then it is Saiba's turn as he carries his tray towards the judges.

"Next is Saiba Yukihira's dish."

As Saiba approaches, he notices that the judges didn't finish their garlic rice. 'Just as I thought. The flavors were all muddled.'

Urara approaches and asks, "So tell us, what did you-"

"Hold that thought." Saiba says while glancing at Urara. "There is something I would like to ask Judge Okamoto. You said you would eat five bowls of the garlic rice and the garlic rice alone. Does that mean that you don't want any other toppings because it would clash with the meat you just ate?" He points at his rice bowl, "Because you still have some rice left."

The camera is pointed at the rice bowls the judges have and shows that there was still rice in their bowls left uneaten. Everyone gasps when they see that and murmur to themselves in shock.

Katsunori Okamoto started to sweet and looks guilty for something, "...Yes. The seasonings of the Garlips Rice was too bold for that wonderful overpowering meat."

The other two judges agree with shameful looks on their faces. Ikumi is getting frustrated as she shakes her right fist.

"I thought so. You see, Ikumi Mito only focuses on one particular part of the dish and that is the meat itself. For a rice bowl, you need to have balance so the customer can enjoy both the toppings and the rice itself. That type of rice bowl will leave the customer happy and satisfied. My dish represents that." Saiba removes the lids, "Behold! My own unique take of the Chaliapin Steak Rice Bowl."

Yoshiki and Katsunori gulp when they smell and look at it by some great hunger being dawn in by the rice bowl Saiba made served in a donburi bowl. The steak is topped with onions, garlic and green onions. They also noticed the smell of the sauce used in it.

Katsunori tries to pull himself together, "Uh, well, it looks very inticing and um, *gulp* smells wonderful."

Yoshiki tries to pull himself together as well, "Um, worth a try."

The three judges try a bite with their chopsticks.

Ikumi seems a bit pissed, "Tch! Whatever. My rice bowl is superior than what slope he makes." But she notices something is up with the judges, "Wait, what?"

The judges are scarfing their meals down like crazed, starving animals.

"What's going on?!" Shigeno asks as she is for some reason unable to stop eating. "I can't- My hand won't stop moving!" and takes in more satisfying bites. 'The meat is so tender and also-'

'The sauce!' Katsunori keeps on eating, 'This special sauce is infused with minced onions and really wets the appetite. What is this?!'

Yoshiki keeps on wolfing down his dish, 'This depth of flavor! After the steak was cooked the frying pan was deglazed with red wine!'

Katsunori analyze, "He simmered the remaining meat juices into the wine and he used that to fry the onions."

Yoshiki says with his mouth barely full, "He added corn starch to make it smooth and he allowed it to melt perfectly to the meat and rice into a beautiful dance."

Then Shigeno adds in, "The flavors are rounded out by a mere and infused soy sauce. The browning of the rice gives it a broad depth of flavor."

The crowd are in total awe when they hear that as Ryoko and Yuki claps their hands together, "Yes!"

Daigo cheers, "Yeah, Saiba!"

Zenji pushes his glasses as he does some trivia, "Onions are essential to an Chaliapin Steak. But it looked like he tweaked it." He pushes his glasses again, "But I think he also did something to the sauce."

"But there's more than that." Shun says after he remembers something.

Ikumi is both upset and confused, 'But sauce is just sauce.' But she realizes, 'Wait. Did he added a Special Region ingredient to the rice? That's it!'

Katsunori speaks, "The meat and the sauce are both full of flavor but the more I eat, the hungrier I get."

Yoshiki keeps on eating, "You're not kidding. I feel like I can eat this forever."

Shigeno then notices something about the rice as she holds them with her chopsticks. She sees some hues of pink and red in the rice. "These undertones of acidity and sweetness. What exactly is this?"

Saiba smiles, "I'm glad you ask." He pulls out a jar of the same red paste from the last chapter. "It's Pickled Plumpeach Paste. It is the key to my rice which is also the key to my dish. It is a refreshing pickled Plumpeach on rice."

"I knew it!" Katsunori shouted as pink and white flower petals are scattering around in his mind and his jacket and tie are being blown. "That is the refreshing taste that makes you want to eat more!"

Yoshiki imagines a chibi version of himself jumping on the dish, "The steak is light and fluffy and full of deliciousness!"

Shigeno imagines a chibi version of herself sliding on the onions, "That beautiful sauce is simply glorious."

Katsunori turns into a chibi as he flies in the air among the flower petals, "And the pickled Plumpeaches in the rice, it's so light and brisk. Hohoho~."

The three say together, "THE TASTINESS OF EACH COMPONENT...ELEVATES THE OTHER IN HARMONY!"

In Ikumi's mind, she turns into a beautiful statue wearing the same dress from Erina's mind yet it cracks before crumbling away right before the piano she was playing on drops on her remains to illustrate her shock.

Back in reality, the three judges keep on scarfing it down, "WE CAN'T HELP BUT SCARF IT DOWN!"

Ikumi is still in shock, 'A strange concoction of peaches and plumes? That's all it took? He may have tweaks things but they were all cheap. Just one special ingredient really make all the difference rather than two?'

Yoshiki slam his bowl down, "Oh god! I'm already finished with my bowl!"

Shigeno asks, "Is there anymore left?! Where can we get some more of this!? The roti rice bowl was excellent but my chopsticks wanted to move towards this bowl!"

Ikumi just drops to her knees when she realizes that she just lost.

"You might wanna think twice if you're gonna challenge me using ingredients from my world." Saiba says with a serious tone and a stern look on his face as he looks at Ikumi. "When you told me that you were gonna used Marbled Meat Boulder, I thought you would understand that you can't use bold seasonings in the rice. Using Garlips maybe a good choice, but it clashes with the meat's flavor. You're dish looks like a rice bowl, but it's not."

Ikumi looks at Saiba and becomes terrified as a strange glowing, wavy blue aura appears around him.

Yet Saiba smiles, "Like Kan-Kon says," he does a circular motion with his right index finger as white paintbrush stokes appear, "Cheap and tasty. A meal should be summarized into one bowl."

Ikumi grits her teeth, "Says you, you hypocrite! How much does Plumpeaches cost in your world!? Five thousand yen?! Ten thousand?!"

Saiba thinks about it before answering, "Hmm... About a hundred yen and only a hundred yen...for a dozen"

Ikumi is shocked to hear that particular information. In the V.I.P. section, Erina gets upset as she claws the arms of her chair which frightens Hisako because Ikumi is gonna lose.

"Yeah. Plumpeaches are actually easy to cultivate along with a few others from the New Continent." Saiba then gives Ikumi a bowl of the Chaliapin Steak Rice Bowl to her, "Give it a try. Just listen to what my rice bowl has to say. I believe that the best way to know the chef is through their cooking, not with words."

Ikumi stands up and swipes the bowl from Saiba and tries a bite out of anger. However, she starts to calm down after taking another bite. Then another. Then Another. Her anger drops completely, 'He's right.' tears start to form, 'This rice bowl does speak to you. It says: Eat me, as fast as you can.'

Ikumi then remembers when she was a child. She remembers back on her ninth birthday.

"Happy ninth birthday, Ikumi." her mother says with joy. She gives her a teddy bear for her birthday.

Young Ikumi happily accepts the gift, "Thank you so much, mommy. I really love it." She holds out her bear and laughs. It was a happy occasion.

But sometime later, her father ripped off one of the teddy bear's arms with Ms. Mito pleading him to stop as he throws it on the floor.

"Shut up!" he says to her before speaking , "The successor to the Mito Family has no need for such pleasures." and tosses the teddy bear's arm next to it. Then he speaks to Ikumi, "Listen closely, Ikumi! You should be focusing on getting stronger and better! Understand!?" and walks away.

Young Ikumi picks up her teddy and holds it tightly.

Back in the present, Ikumi continues to scarf down her rice bowl, 'Dammit! Why did I have to remember something like that?' She stops and looks at Saiba, who has his arms crossed. Then she looks back at what remains of her dish, 'It's...It's because of this. It's whispering to me: It's okay to do what I want.' Then eats what remains of the steak. 'That it's okay to be myself.' Tears fall from her face after realizing what the rice bowl is saying to her. 'Dammit!'

In Ikumi's mind, she is covered with onions while on the rice bowl she ate while moaning in delight as she and the bowl are being pulled in by the symbol for rice bowl.

Back in reality, the judges slam the blue buttons as the screen says that Saiba wins 3-0.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is Saiba Yukihira!"

The crowd cheers for Saiba's victory as he raises his right fist in the air while holding his headband triumphantly.

Saiba smiles, "You're welcome!"

Megumi raises her arms and jumps up with joy, "Yay! You're incredible, Saiba!"

Kanichi cries on his right sleeve.

Daigo screams out, "He won! He did it!"

"Way to go!" Yuki cheers.

The two students that are standing rather than sitting smile.

"Good." one says, "He won't have to marry Erina Nakiri."

"Yeah." the other one agrees, "No one lays a finger on her."

But one of them look at his friend, "But why does Erina want to marry this guy? Is he royalty or something?"

"Don't know." the guy shrugs, "Maybe he has some badass connections or something."

"I wouldn't be surprise."

Ikumi is on her knees as she says to herself, "I don't believe it. I lost the Food War." Yet she remembers that Erina is watching and looks up where she is sitting.

From the V.I.P. section, she can see Erina standing up really pissed with a very angry glare staring down at her, teeth gritting, fists clenching tightly and having a scary red aura full of anger and spite. Ikumi is frighten by Erina's displeasure as Erina furiously looks down at Ikumi's failure. Even though no can hear it, but Ikumi swears that she hears threatening growls from her the longer she looks at her furious gaze. After a few moments, Erina marches out of the room full of rage with Hisako catching up to her.

"Clear the cooking room I gave her!" Erina orders furiously. "I have absolutely NO TIME for failures such as her!" Erina stops and slams her left fist on the wall, leaving a huge impact mark and cracks.

Hisako gets scared, "Yes, m-m-ma'am!"

"Oh dear." says the spooky voice of a girl. In the middle of the hall, Nao Sadatsuka is there as she is hunched over and looks creepy as ever. "Did I come at a bad time." she grins. "I have the information you want, Mistress Erina."

Erina drops her rage and smiles with a bit of drool at the corner of the right side of her lip, "Oh? Do tell."

Back at the arena, Ikumi is still on the floor and is scared yet becomes depressed because she failed Erina. Since she failed, no reward.

"Hey! Ikumi!" Saiba says to Ikumi to get her attention. "You got some talent, but you need some proper training if you want to face me again."

"Oh really?" Ikumi responds with an emotionless tone, "Whatever."

Yet Saiba extends his right hand to her, "Come on!"

Ikumi looks up and sees Saiba's smile. She never realizes something. Something that is drawing her to him.

"I had a blast." he compliments Ikumi, "You're the best meat cook I ever met. Not a lot of people can cook Marbled Meat Boulder like what you did."

Ikumi blushes at him, "W-what?"

Saiba is surrounded by sparkles and twinkles in Ikumi's eyes, "I'm looking forward to working with you, Ikumi. Little Sweat-Meat."

Ba-dump! Ikumi's face is all red, broke out of her depression, and runs away screaming, "JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU CUTE FACED BOY PIECE OF CRAAAAAAP!" as Saiba waves bye at her.

"Make sure you come by the club room."

Kanichi says to Saiba as he approaches, "Saiba."

"Hmm?" he turns to face Kanichi.

"You're one hell of a guy." Kanichi places his left hand on Saiba's shoulder. He looks very proud at Saiba for winning, "You're the only one that can keep Bowl Club afloat. You're the next Don of Bowl Club!" He gives a serious smile with a few yellow sparkles, "Please, Saiba?"

Megumi and the rest of Polar Star, except Zenji, clap in celebration of Saiba's first Food War victory at Totsuki Academy.

However, "Sorry man, but no."

Kanichi is shocked with his jaw dropped and gasps. Megumi gasped in surprise as well.

"I realize something. Not a lot of people know about the food from my world." He smiles, "So, I'm gonna start my own research society!"

One of the students jumped up, "What!?"

Some of the students are shocked to hear that part yet some are getting excited that they get to see new ingredients they never seen before.

Urara clears her throat, "You hear that, folks!? There's gonna be a new research society about the Special Region! And Saiba is gonna be the teacher!"

Many people cheer, "HURRAY FOR SPECIAL REGION RESEARCH SOCIETY! WOO!"

Saiba looks at the crowd and feels a humongous weight on his shoulders, 'What the fuck was I thinking? Oh well. Better to teach than be ignorant I guess. But how do I start a club or research society? Do I go to the student council office or...wait, is there a student council at this school? I'll I know is the Council of Ten. I'll figure it out later.'

The very next day after the Food War, Ikumi arrives at the Bowl Club's door yet hasn't gone in yet. She pace around all frustrated. Yet when she stops, she remembers something that Saiba said with her face all flustered.

'Oh Sweet-Meat.' Not exactly what he said, but that's how she remembers him and how cute he looked.

She shakes it off and get it out of her head. She slaps her cheeks and looks at her reflection in the window to make sure that she looks good.

Once she gained the nerve, "I'm coming in." she enters.

Yet she only sees Kanichi who was reading one of the old recipe books.

"Oh, Meat-Meat, you came!" Kanichi is happy to see her and not scared like he was before.

"Of course I did." She starts to act bashful but stubborn, "So Saiba hasn't come to the club yet, hasn't he? He told me to come by so I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter."

"Um...about that."

"Huh?"

Kanichi told her what happened when she ran out and much to her shock.

"So, that's that. But for real, we have more funds now, so, um, looking forward to working together to revive bowl club." Kanichi did the same thing to what he did to Saiba, "You're the only one that can do it, keep us afloat. You're the next Don of Bowl Club! Meat-Meat."

But Ikumi became upset and starts beating the living hell out of Kanichi as she yells, "SHUT THE HELL UP! DON'T CALL ME MEAT-MEAT! RAAAAA!"

"YAAAAAHHH!"

Megumi is outside and hears everything as she tells, 'Ever since that day, Ikumi Mito seemed to have grown even more violent.'

"GRAAAAAA!"

AN: Whew! Longest. Chapter. Ever. Seriously! This was the longest chapter I have ever written, other than the lore to my own stuff. Anyway, just a heads up, the next few chapters will be original material rather than being based on the series. They will be about the club Saiba made and Erina invading Polar Star. So prepare for some...thing. Hope you enjoy!