Chapter 15:
Punch Line: Rainbow Memories

Megumi then presents her dish. At first, there was a rainbow. A rainbow circle in a puddle in the middle of a rain at first but then see Megumi's dish.

"A terrine?" Hinako says as she sees Megumi's Rainbow Terrine.

"Ooo-ooo." Donato is impressed by the dish he sees before him.

"Look at this." Hitoshi is also impressed.

Megumi did a little gulp that was barely noticeable, "I made you all a Rainbow Terrine, using seven vegetables."

"How nice." Hitoshi compliments, "You made a seven differently colored patte. Arranging them in stripes of a beautiful rainbow."

Fuyumi remembers something, "Come to think of it, the challenge in Kojiro's class is a terrine. Very interesting."

"Really?" Kojiro is upset. He did try something different and lost and finding Megumi is using something she learned in his class against him. "You copied my recette and try to use it against me? How dumb are you?"

Megumi panics, "Whaa-?!" and has her arms flaying around, "No, I certainly didn't want to copy it! I wanted everyone to experience my own personal approach to the recette! That's it, I promise!"

"Well now." Donato got his knife and fork, "Let's see what this little flower has made for us."

Everyone nod in agreement.

Fuyumi also takes her fork and knife, "After that horrible experience from Kojiro's attempt at using Special Region ingredients."

"Hey!" Kojiro takes great offense, "I was tricked!"

The four take a bite out of the terrine as Megumi is hoping that she makes it. She starts to have flashbacks of all her failing grades and everyone around her calling her useless she is and saying she'll bring the prestige of the school down along with no talent up to the point where Kojiro tells them that both her and Saiba will be sent home if they lose.

Donato swallows, "It's delish!" He likes it.

Hitoshi also compliments, "Yes it is!"

"Wonderful!" Fuyumi also enjoys it.

Hinako also loves it, but is just an observer. Not a judge.

Megumi is surprised by the compliments she is getting.

Hitoshi analyzes, "Potatoes, carrots, zucchini and other vegetables were worked into patte to create the layers. Bringing out each vegetable's individual profile. You did well accomplishing so much in a limited amount of time you had."

"There are two different sauces." Donato notices, "One is a sweet and sour citrus-based sudachi. The other is a cool and refreshing green sauce made of shiso-based paste infused with various herbs. Delightful. Having to see the terrine with sudachi and shiso is most enticing."

"Mmm." Hinako went with her face all blushing and enjoying the taste. Yet she also notices something else. "Hold on." Hinako looked at the terrine, "There is something there that is enhancing all the ingredients in the terrine."

Fuyumi has another piece and tries it. "You're right. There must be a special seasoning that enhances the taste of all the vegetables, the meat, and even the sauces."

Donato and Hitoshi take another bite and noticed.

"What is that?" Donato asks, "It's like I just taste some sort of flavor enhancer."

"You are correct." Saiba stepped up, "I used these." He shows a small glass container with a metal lid that shows some sort of grey-like powdered substance. "This, is Volcano Ash Salt."

"Volcano Ash Salt?!" the four went.

"Exactly. This specialize salt is from a volcano in the Special Region's New Continent that act as a fertilizer for the surrounding jungle." Behind him is a depiction of a wasteland, "As a matter of fact, there is a project that involves turning wastelands into fertile ground for future development." Then we get an image of five brown robed figures with wooden staves, "Right now, the mages are trying to learn the secret of the Volcano Ash Salt in order to make a synthetic version in order to reduce the risks of gathering such a precious seasoning."

Kojiro looks at the little jar, "Really? I thought it was some form of rock salt. I didn't realize something like that can also be used as a fertilizer."

"That, and it goes well with the vegetables. Giving them a sweeter taste and enhances the effects of other spices. Yet the true test of skill is the amount used in all the ingredients. Each one is carefully salted to help equalize the flavors and have them work in harmony."

Hitoshi looks at the dish, "Come to think of it, I did tasted a bit of allspice. But other than that," he looks at the terrine, "these vibrant colorful stripes are pleasing for the eye as well as the palette."

Fuyumi, "The citrus also pairs nicely with the sweetness if the tomato."

Donato takes another bite, "The seven layers along with the two sauces gives the dinner fourteen excellent flavors as well as cleaning one's digestive track."

Gin asks Megumi, "You used sun-dried tomatoes, didn't you."

"Um, yes I did. You see, back in my hometown, we take all the summer vegetables we gathered and dried them in the sun. Preserving them so we can eat them during the winter." Megumi remembers when she was little, "I used to help my mom in the kitchen everyday and she showed me how to do it in the oven. I loved cooking with her." Then she explains the process, "We cut cherry tomatoes in half, sprinkled them with rock salt and the Volcano Ash salt, then slow roast them in the oven at a hundred and twenty degrees. That brings out their sweetness and gives them a different texture. I thought it would be a fun change to enhance the terrine nicely."

Gin lays some facts with a chemical formula behind him, "Tomatoes contain the compound, glutamine. Which is an umami component. It is concentrated when the tomato is dried, and the sweetness of the tongue is intensified greatly. Kojiro's nine layered vegetable terrine lets one taste the lively flavor of fresh vegetables. But this recette's has a special splendid flavor that comes from using a preserved ingredient. Yet with the special salt, the flavor is furthered enhance and satisfied the palette. While both are basically the same menu item, a vegetable terrine, we have a fine fresh flavor versus a full body umami. Two completely different approaches."

In Hinako's mind, she is in some traditional Japanese village.

"A taste that truely warms the heart. It's like its brimming with sweet tenderness."

In Donato's mind, there is a golden full moon above him in the night sky. There is also a giant and imposing figure of Kojiro behind some French-style castle on an island

"Yes. If Kojiro is the Legume Magician, then Megumi is..."

The scene changes to a Japanese mountain country side as Megumi is a Koropokkuru (a yokai that means: people hidden under the butterbur leaves) and wearing a white and purple women's Ainu outfit with matching headband.

"...someone that represents the bounty of nature in her own modest way. A Legume Gnome."

The tiny Megumi says in a high pitch voice, "Hi there!"

Yet Hinako interrupts, "NO! That's not it at all."

In her mind, we got a traditional Japanese inn in a middle of the mountain country side.

"Megumi is a conjurer or happiness!"

Across the tatami mat floors across the many, many doorways, a little girl version of Megumi is there in a red yukata with white swirling crests on them while happily holding a green pumpkin.

"She is the Legume Spirit of Fortune!"

The little Megumi says in a shy manner that further emphasis her cuteness, "Helloooo."

But Hitoshi walks halfway through the scene with his arms crossed, "No, I disagree."

Then we are taken to another traditional Japanese-style village yet covered in snow.

"It's more like she come from the land of snow. Blessing us with a bounty of vegetables."

Megumi is standing under a tree while being even tinier, wearing a red kimono, having a straw hat with the edges reaching down to her elbows while holding two arms full of vegetables.

"A Legume Snow Queen!"

The little Megumi giggles with her breath showing and holding up one of the vegetables.

But Hinako interrupts the scene with her arms forming an X, "It's not winter, so I say it doesn't really make any sense!"

Back in reality, Donato argues, "Really? Then she must be known as the Legume Gnome."

Hinako argues back, "She's the Spirit of Fortune!"

Hitoshi argues back at the two, "I say she's a Snow Queen!"

Fuyumi, stuck in the middle, is getting annoyed, "Why does she have to be some sort of weird creature?"

Megumi is happy to see the three judges, plus Hinako, loving her dish. All her hard work is paying off.

As the three argue, Saiba gives a plate to Kojiro.

"Here." Saiba presents a plate of Rainbow Terrine, "How about you give it a try?"

Kojiro just glares at Saiba for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Very well." Kojiro decides to go along as he smiles, "Since I lost because of my mistake and I have to listen to those three bickering dogs, I may as well have to." He cuts off a piece that has all seven colors and takes a bite. He tastes while chewing before swallowing. "It isn't cooked right. The plating is off and...and..." Tears start to form at the corner of Kojiro's eyes when something about the dish hits him. 'And yet why? Why is it tugging at my heart like this? There's something else to it. The dish is crude. But the way each ingredient was treated takes careful consideration for the dinner. It's enough to relax the soul that has been strain and troubled.'

Kojiro is taken back in time when he was a kid growing up in a farming village. The area is muddy and cloudy because of a rainstorm as he walks on a dirt path, passing by puddles and is bruised up and dirty. The sun peers through the clouds as birds start chirping.

'This flavor... It...it reminds me...'

"Kojiro! Kojiro!" his mother calls out to him. She runs up as he turns around while being upset, "Boy, you were fightin' again, weren't'cha?"

He looks down and groans.

"You went and say some bullheaded nonsense to your friends again, I bet."

She looks down at him and notices the dirt stain on his clothes and some of the bruises.

Kojiro still looks upset, "Well ya." he rubs the side of his cheek, "I can't stand them. I'm fine being on my own. I don't care if nobody gets me here."

His mother grabs his hand and sounded a bit more gentler, "Oh sweetheart. You're always flyin' off the handle like this. It's hard to keep friends. The truth is you're a kind boy, and your mama knows that."

The little kid version of Kojiro is trying to hold back his tears as he goes, "Oh...mom..."

"Now lets hurry back. I'm making your favorite tonight. Is that okay with you?"

"Y-...yeah."

As the two walk back home, they noticed a rainbow overhead.

His mother point out, "Look, Kojiro! A rainbow! It's pretty, huh Kojiro?"

Close by, the three Megumi's watch them both walk under the rainbow and are happy.

"Yeah."

The Snow Queen version of Megumi giggles, "Thank goodness."

"Right?" asked the Spirit of Fortune Megumi.

'This...this tastes like...a mother's love...'

AN: Okay, I'm gonna cut corners on this particular segment here.

We go back in time to when Kojiro graduated from Totsuki Academy as he says farewell to Donato, Hinako and Fuyumi as he decided to head off to France in order to complete his cooking, open his restaurant and earn the Pluspol. His classmates find it hard to believe that he is going to achieve such a goal and the first Japanese to do so. He saved up his money he earned from cooking contests and eventually made it to France. He studied there for six years and able to obtain his first restaurant. Kojiro was on cloud nine when he was receiving such praise. That is until some members of his staff undermined him. Backlashes for being an outsider, other chefs were jealous of his youth and his restaurant has been getting negative reviews. Because of this, he had to change his work ethics and be a ruthless head chefs that fired his insubordinate chefs. The restaurant later get better, yet the staff is absolutely terrified of him.

One member of his staff tried to change a recette of one dish to make it efficient and reduce cost. That is when Kojiro develops his terrifying glare that threatens anyone that refuse to follow his instructions to get them to obey. He push himself further and further to his limits until he made it to the top. He finally won the Pluspol. But now, he had reach a plateau and has nowhere else to go. That is until the announcement of the Special Region...

We cut to the present where Kojiro takes another bite with a tear streaming down his left cheek, 'This dish...just removed all of my struggles and frustrations. Easing my anxieties. All of it just...melts away.' He wipes the tear away and gets his composure back as he looks at Megumi. "Hey, dimwit. They said you used allspice, correct?"

"Um...yes."

Fuyumi explained, "Well I'll say it was used to offset the smell of the chicken liver. It's a blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. It is used in a wide variety of dishes."

Saiba says, "Allspice is also known as Jamaica pepper or myrtle pepper, referring to a Caribbean island that later was widespread to Central and South America. There are also several other unrelated plants that has the word 'allspice' in it, like Carolina allspice, Japanese allspice and wild allspice. Yet the reason why is because of the fragrance."

Gin snaps his fingers, "That is correct."

"I read that from a book back at school that Zenji let me read."

"Yet there is another reason for it." Kojiro says, "Isn't there?"

"Um, huh, right! I know that you've all been judging yesterday, right? And you had to eat a lot of different foods. So I thought that you might be... Well allspice aids in digestion and might do you some good."

Donato says, "Yes, I stated that earlier."

Megumi starts to get bashful, "But I wanted to give you something...that might be gentle on your stomachs and help settle your tummies."

Hinako starts crying with tears gushing out, "You are so thoughtful and sweet!"

Donato starts crying, "You sure are. I'm overcome knowing that your beauty extends to the kitchen."

Fuyumi just glances at Donato, "Meaning that she's your type, right?"

Hinako pops up from behind Donato, "Do not say things like that, Chef Mizuhara!"

Gin says to Kojiro, "Though clumsy, it resonates. That's the kind of food she's made. Even while taking on this challenge, Megumi kept the interest of the dinner close at heart. I would say that's an important aspect to consider if you want to move beyond the summit."

Kojiro looks at Gin, "So you knew. You knew my cooking was stagnant and I have reached a plateau."

"I'm afraid so. But when you learned that Saiba is from the Special Region, you decided to have a challenge from a chef from a world far different from ours in retrospect. That's when you wanted to move forward. But it takes a step back to realize something truly important." Wise words.

'I see now.' Kojiro realizes, 'For a long time now, I never considered the faces of my customers. Nor the voices of my staff. I've been cooking all alone.'

Gin asks the judges, "So, we all know who the winners are? Raise your left hand if Chef Megumi Tadokoro and Chef Saiba Yukihira are the winners. The right for Chef Kojiro Shinomiya"

And the vote is unanimous and Megumi won alongside Saiba.

Saiba takes his headband off and says, "You're welcome!"

Megumi hugs Saiba while being all teary eye, "Thank the cosmos for having someone like you saving me!" But she accidentally tackle hugs him.

"Ow!" Saiba lands right on the floor.

Kojiro groans, "If that damn scam artist haven't sold me those other ingredients, I would've won. And Megumi stays, in her own unfortunate and clumsy way." But he doesn't seem to upset at all. Rather glad as he smirks. Kojiro walks away, "Alright, that should be all." Yet after taking a few steps, he glaces over at Saiba who is rubbing the back of his head, 'Saiba Yukihira.' He smirks again and heads out.

But Hinako gets in the way, "Someone isn't a very nice person, now is he?"

Kojiro grabs Hinako by the face and lift her a few inches off the ground in annoyance as she tries to break free.

"You see! This is what I'm talking about!"

Gin says to Megumi as Kojiro exits, "Megumi. Your food is like a warm embrace for those who're honored to try it. It's hospitality. And it's the essence of your cooking. That is a powerful weapon. Hone it well while at Totsuki Academy."

"We did it." Saiba looks at Megumi before smiling at her, "Now let's work hard."

Megumi falls onto her knees and cries out of joy. Saiba rubs her back to make her feel more comfortable.

Gin and Hitoshi walk side by side out of the basement.

Hitoshi notices, "So Kojiro wanted something to get off his plateau and accepted Saiba's challenge to a Food War. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes. Kojiro has always been able to move forward by removing everything he has considered unnecessary. Then, he reached the summit, before he fully matured as a chef owner. For a chef to continue to move forward, they must reach new heights. It takes an insatiable desire to absorb knowledge from all sources. Perhaps, he would get that back tonight."

"I see. So this Food War saved both of our promising chefs at once." He smiles at Gin, "You are quite the educator, my friend."

"Ha. You flatter me."

Gin is up on the first floor and notices through the window that Megumi and Saiba are heading out. He notice the two laughing with Megumi trying to thank him but Saiba makes a few pointers about how Megumi told him on what she really want to cook and that's what got them through.

'Saiba Yukihira wasn't intending on winning all by himself. He asked what Megumi wanted to make and understands what the head chef is planning. Yet there are times when a chef has to reach things on their own. That a lesson that he needs to learn. Just like with Kojiro when he set out on his journey.'

Megumi and Saiba made it back to the hotel room where Saiba says to everyone in a cheery mood, "Hey guys! We made it!"

But Yuki smacks him in the face, "YOU JERKFACE!" Then proceeds to strangle Saiba by the collar and shake him, "Just how reckless can you be!? Idiot! I was so worried about you two! When I heard that-"

Erina smacks Yuki aside and does the same thing Yuki did, "Do you have any idea what type of trouble you are in!? You had me worried sick!"

Hisako tries to calm down Erina, "Miss Erina! Stop!"

Ryoko says, "You girls need to chill out!"

Megumi says, "If it wasn't for Saiba, I would've been expelled for sure!"

Erina gives a threatening glare at Megumi and Ryoko, "You two stay out of this!"

Both of them flinched out of fear as Hisako tries her best to calm down Erina. Then Yuki hugs and cries on Ryoko while Erina continues to lecture Saiba and Hisako tries to stop her. Saiba is getting spirals on his eyes and looking pale as a ghost from all the shaking.

"Would you please not cry on me?" Ryoko asks Yuki not to, but she is glad that Megumi survived. "But still. I'm really glad you both made it. I totally am you guys."

Megumi also says, "Yeah. Thanks to Saiba, we won."

Erina stops shaking Saiba while growling at him with Saiba being able to say, "Technically, he was scammed with the wrong ingredient and his lack of knowledge of the specially prepared ingredient is what caused his downfall."

Then Erina squeezes him into her chest while crying, "I'm never letting you go! Never ever!"

"Can't...breathe..." Saiba says with his voice low and muffled by Erina's fun bags.

AN: Hey everyone! Finally finished this chapter. Listen up! Because of work, expect chapters being uploaded at random. Sorry for the inconvenience but I hope you understand. Later! Stay healthy and stay safe.