Chapter 10 Dojima Gin
On the bus, Soma is now sitting next to Takumi while Megumi is sitting next to Isami, and Takumi is now flustered with embarrassment as Soma says, "Well, well, it looks like we "Meet Again". Shall we have that Shokugeki now so you can "Stomp Me Flat"?"
"Shut Up! Don't Talk to Me!" Takumi yells back while covering his face with his hands. Isami is laughing behind the blonde boy, and Megumi is just sweatdropping.
When Takumi finally calms down, he thinks back to the dish he and Soma made during their assignment. He thinks, "This was an assignment where I could fully use the techniques and knowledge I've polished. I was sure of my win when I came up with that dish. Even so, to think he could stand his ground...Even though no one won or lost, what's this sense of defeat? I won't let it end like this...someday, I'll definitely..."
Soma looks at the boy and says, "Trattoria Aldini's Takumi, huh? There's someone my age who can do this much. If I didn't come to this school, I wouldn't have known this, huh?"
Soma and Megumi meet up with Ryoko, Ibusaki, Yuki, and a semi-dead Marui in front of the main Totsuki hotel. Ibusaki says, "All of the Polar Star members survived the first day."
"That is great." Megumi says.
Yuki says, "Yeah, now it is time for the rewards! Dinner, a bath, and guest rooms! Most probably all of those are super luxurious and gorgeous! I'll enjoy this to the fullest."
But it turns out that they are not finished with the tasks, as they have to make 50 Beef Steak Meals for the people of the bodybuilding club of the upper arm university that are having a training camp at a nearby facility. Not only that, the people from the American Football club and the Wrestling Club will also come.
"But what about our dinner?" Some students ask, and chef Sekimori says, "Those who finish the 50 meals should cook their own meals. By the way, bear in mind that during this camp, you'll have to make all of your breakfasts and dinners. And one last thing, those who can't carry this out in an hour will be expelled!"
After hearing this, everyone is rushing to prepare the meals, it is not that easy as everyone is like living in hell. Soma sighs as he uses his swift movements to prepare all 50 of them with ease.
"Yukihira Soma, 50 meals finished!" Sekimori says.
"It wasn't much." Soma says as he takes off his headband. Takumi grits his teeth and says, "Damn it...I fell behind! But Yukihira! The taste of mine is better probably!"
Takumi is doing his 45th meal, and Sekimori yells, "Hey you! Don't move your lips! Move your hands!"
Soma waves at them and says, "Well then, I'll be in Marui's room!"
Marui yells, "You don't have to come! I plan to sleep early tonight!"
As Yukihira Soma is walking towards the room, he says, "With that said, even though I have gone first, I got nothing to do. I wonder if there's something on TV..."
Then he notices the public bath, and he decides to take a bath first, and since he is the first one, he might be able to hog the whole bath for himself. After getting the yukata and the pants, Soma skips to the public baths, only to bump into a person and falls.
"Ah! It's Nakiri." Soma says as he realizes that Nakiri is in her own Yukata as she just finished taking a bath.
"Yukihira Soma..." Erina mutters.
"Sorry, are you okay? Nakiri? Do you have a twisted ankle or something?" Soma asks, and Erina is now flustered and yells, "D-don't touch me! I can stand by myself!"
After getting back up, she thinks, "Such a blunder...just when I had my guard down because I thought there wasn't anyone else here...I had to run into this man of all people..."
"But you seem to be in a great mood if you are humming." Soma says.
"Who is humming? I don't recall doing anything like that!" Erina yells.
"Well, I can understand why you're so merry, I mean, we're staying in a place with hot springs, I even brought things like decks of cards and Hanafuda." Soma says.
"I'm not merry! Don't put me together with you!" Erina yells. "This is a worthless event, they call it a hellish training camp, but it's nothing but tedious for me. Ah, well, however, I wonder on what day you will drop out...watching that might be mildly entertaining."
"Don't make me laugh. You were even walking so cheerfully." Soma says, causing the girl to be angry again.
"Erina-sama!" Hisako rushes towards them and she says, "Sorry for the tardiness! It took more time than I expected!" But she freezes as she sees Soma. "Yukihira Soma! You bastard! What are you doing here?"
"Well, I accidentally pushed Nakiri down." Soma says in a casual tone, and Erina yells, "Don't say that in a way that will cause misunderstandings! Just go somewhere else quickly!"
Soma sighs as he quickly leaves, before that, he says, "Oh, I almost forgot, if you are lucky enough, you might find Phantom here in the Training Camp, that will be the time when you can fight a Shokugeki with him."
"What?" Both girls are shocked as they see Soma leaving.
Soma is now alone again as he thinks, "Geez...what is with that woman, she's as annoying as always..."
After getting into the hot springs, he notices that Dojima Gin is also inside the hot springs. Soma says, "Uncle Dojima? Is that you?"
Dojima Gin turns to Soma and says, "Oh? I see you are the first one to come, Yukihira Soma. Sorry. It's my daily routine to give my body maintenance when taking a bath."
"It's fine, I wouldn't mind talking to you after all these years." Soma says as he goes into the springs.
"So did you find the secret recipes that are hiding in the West Kitchen?" Dojima Gin asks.
"You bet, they are very wonderful dishes. But I wouldn't be able to see her doing those again..." Soma says with a frown.
"Still, it must be hard for you and your father after all these years, I mean, Tamako is a very nice and strong chef." Dojima sighs. "By the way, I have heard from Headmaster Senzaemon that you're taking the Phantom disguise from your mother, huh?"
"Well, Headmaster asked me to become the 0 seat of the school, and I could only do that in this disguise because I wasn't even in the Junior High Section." Soma says. "Nobody knows about my disguise, so they have been trying to have a Shokugeki with me to see who I am."
"They probably all failed, you have Angel's Eyes after all." Dojima smiles.
"Yeah, but a senior with the same dorm as me, Isshiki Satoshi, almost beat me." Soma says.
"Ah, the current Seventh seat, huh? He is also the one who managed to finish the 50 meals early." Dojima says with a nod.
"Though there is one more person who is faster than me, Nakiri Erina." Soma says. "I never knew that Headmaster had another granddaughter."
"I've heard rumors about her. Like that all her baby food was made by all of the Academy's senior lecturers. Or that she could guess eight different varieties of salt by tasting them while blindfolded. Like you, she has special powers known as the God's Tongue. If you start with her anecdotes, you'll never end. However, the power that made her the youngest person ever to become the 10th seat of the Elite 10, is backed by real cooking skills. Something that is very similar to you.
Soma nods as he thinks about it, and then they continue to talk about the other things he learned with the other alumni with their generation, and then they hear a loud voice from Takumi, "Yukihira! Are you here! I fell behind this time, but..."
Takumi freezes as he sees Dojima Gin in the public bath, and Gin says, "Looks like I overstayed, I'll take my leave now. Anyway, the training camp just started. You should give your body maintenance properly. Do you best from tomorrow on."
Soma shakes hands with Gin and says, "Of course, Uncle Dojima."
After Dojima leaves, Takumi yells, "Yukihira! Do you know who that person was? Why were you shaking hands so cheerfully?"
As Soma and Takumi are chatting, Dojima looks at Soma again and he says, "The son of Ashura and Phantom...I wonder what will become of Yukihira Soma if he continues to overcome all the challenges..."
After playing cards in Marui's room, a lot of people are already asleep, and Ryoko turns to Megumi and asks, "Megumi, you aren't sleepy yet? That's unusual. You usually get sleepy early."
Megumi says, "Yeah. It was weird, I'm tired, but I can't fall asleep..."
Soma says, "Well, we steeled ourselves all day."
"You're right, but it's probably not just that..." Megumi adds. "I always get really nervous in classes, and I always get in a hurry thinking what will happen if I fail. But today, I could do well when helping Soma-kun. So I got the feeling I got a little confidence. And because of that, I'm really excited."
Soma smiles and says, "Well, if you didn't get the ingredients, I would have never been able to make that dish. And you also cooked perfectly as well." Soma adds.
"That's right, Megumi. You can do it if you try. Be more confident in yourself." Ryoko says.
"Okay." Megumi says.
Soma says, "Well, it is getting late, I'm going into my room for a second."
Then after Soma leaves, Megumi, Ryoko, and Ibusaki are looking at one another with confusion. In Soma's own room, Soma takes out the diary and the Phantom clothing. He puts it on and wanders around the hotel, he thinks, "Mother...I really missed you. But when I met Megumi, I feel like she has some of you inside of her...does that mean she might be the one?"
But her thoughts are interrupted as he sees no other than Nakiri Erina and Hisako Arato in front of him, both of them are in their pajamas and Erina says, "The Phantom..."
Soma changes its tone and says, "Well if it isn't the 10th seat, Nakiri Erina. I think this is the first time we met."
"What are you doing here in this training camp..." Erina asks with a little fear in her tone.
"I'm still a grade 1 student just like you and Yukihira Soma." Soma says, "I heard from Soma that you want to have a Shokugeki with me, is that true."
"So what if it is true? You managed to beat the first 9 seats with ease, I think that maybe if I were able to beat you, I could get the top..." Erina says.
"And what makes you think you can beat me? Is it because you have God's Tongue? That won't be enough if you want to beat me." Soma says with a sigh.
Hisako asks, "Why do you always wear a mask?"
"No reasons, I just don't want anyone to know who my real identity is. That's also the reason why the Elite 10 members have tried a Shokugeki with me." Soma says.
"Just so you know, I will be the first one to know who you are under the mask, and you just have to wait!" Erina says as she and Hisako walk away, and Soma sighs, "The first one? That is not going to happen anymore. Because there are already a few who knows my identity."
And here is a new chapter, and you can see, Soma would sometimes wear the Phantom's outfit. The reason is that the outfit belonged to his mother, and he just didn't want to be recognized. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the Shokugeki with Shinomiya.