Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko
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Kimiko stood in shock looking at the bowl of soup that she had offered the baby wall penguin. She made no sound as her mind was processing that there was an aurora coming from the soup. After weeks of trial and error, she took a spoonful of the soup and took a sip. The baby wall penguin chirped in concern, wondering why the chef hadn't said anything. The penguin chirped in surprise as Kimiko turned to look at him while sporting a ridiculous smile on her face.
"The soup, is complete" she said in euphoria. She then snapped out of trance as the soup started to wear off.
"Yun." the bird said as Kimiko picked up the bowl of soup and looked back at the bird.
"Who would have thought that your drool would have been the final ingredient, What are the odds." she smiled, "It must be because you fed on each generation's century soup, so the taste must have been embedded in your body. Your drool is a high quality ingredient, it reminds me of a swallow's nest." The baby wall penguin chirped as she walked over to him, she smiled and gave him a hug, "Thank you, for choosing me." The two stayed in each other's embrace as Tina came in and smiled seeing that the chef had completed the soup.
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"Breaking News!" the anchorman informed to the camera, "A huge mass of press is descending on the Gourmet Hotel. Ah! There's the chef!" The man pointed at Kimiko who was supporting a business suit for the occasion
"How does it feel creating the Century Soup?"
"When will the Century Soup be place on the menu?"
"When will you publish the recipe?"
"Ah." Kimiko managed to say as she was being swarmed by the press.
"Let me through." the press stopped and looked at the elderly man with two bodyguards by his side, "I have come for a tasting."
"Mr. Patch!" the anchorman exclaimed, "One of the tasting masters selected from the major nations of the IGO! A member of the Gourmet Seven, Mr. Patch has appeared!"
"Oh my, if it isn't Patch-sama!" the manager of the hotel sang, "Chef, prepare the soup."
"Um, well," Kimiko tried to explain
"If we can get the approval of the G7, our hotel will gain stars," the manager pleaded, "C'mon Kimiko-kun!"
"I apologize," she said while the manager nodded, "But I cannot serve you the soup at this moment."
"Why is that?" Patch asked.
"Because I already promised some people that they'd be the first ones to try." she explained while the manager started to freak out at her statement.
"Oh?" Customers that come before me?"
"Kimiko!" Toriko called making the press yell at his entrance.
"Toriko-san, Coco-san!" Kimiko exclaimed as she saw the two Gourmet Kings walk in while wearing suits with Rin standing behind them.
"The living Gourmet National Treasure, Setsuno-san, is here as well!" one of the press said
"I've come to eat your Century Soup!." he waved with his newly formed left hand. Kimiko's eyes started to water as she saw that her friend was completely healed.
"Your arm's okay, thank goodness!" she cried as she ran up to him
"Toriko-san, please tell us how you feel before tasting the soup!" one of the press said as everyone started to crowd around them.
"What's with the racket." the press stopped and turned to look at a scarred man, "Get lost." The press looked at the man and immediately backed away making Toriko laugh.
"Sorry for the wait, Kimiko." he said, and patted her head
"It took me awhile, but I was able to complete it," she said giving him a smile.
"Yeah, I noticed," he said as he leaned in closer to her.
"Huh?"
"Toriko's Gourmet Cells reacted to the completion of the soup, causing a extremely powerful recovery. What a fearsome life energy, or rather, a fearsome appetite." Teppei explained
"Yes, it's certainly amazing," Coco said as he grabbed Toriko's collar making him take a couple steps back from Kimiko. Toriko glared at Coco who was currently smiling like nothing happened.
"So you were able to do it," Takimaru said
"Takimaru-san, how is Aimaru-sam doing?" Kimiko asked
"Well, he's still refusing the medicine," he explained, "Don't worry, I'll definitely get him to take it."
"You really completed it, I won't believe it, until I've drunk it myself," Match said
"Yes, Match-san, please take some to give to the children of Nerg, when you leave," she said
"I have to thank you, Kimiko. You managed to revive an ingredient with your cooking, that I couldn't revive myself." Teppei said
"No… I was only able to recreate the Century Soup, because you allowed me to taste the final drop. It was because of everyone, who enabled me to complete the soup," she reasoned.
"And the ingredients, of course." Setsuno said
"Yes!" Kimiko exclaimed, "I finally understand what you were telling me, Setsuno-san"
"I see, I see, the ingredients must have spoken to you quite a bit," Setsuno said," Good for you, being chosen by the ingredients!"
"Kimiko! Let's hurry up and taste the soup already!" Toriko exclaimed
"Yes, a generous serving!" Tina said wearing a fancy pink dress along with Kruppoh who was wearing a bowtie.
"Tina-san." Kimiko said
"After all, I'm getting a huge scoop!" Tina said as the group started to head toward the dining area.
"By the way, where's Sani-san?"
"He had something to do, so he stayed in Life." Rin said
"Why don't we bring him some later," Toriko said
"Yeah, that'd be nice."
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This is too weird, Kimiko thought as she looked at everyone's euphoric smiles at drinking the soup.
"Did I look as bad as that when I drank it," she asked the baby penguin.
"Yun!" the baby nodded making Kimiko sigh.
"Hey, Kimiko!" Toriko said, "Can I put this in my full course menu!"
"You want my soup in your menu." Kimiko said as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"What's with that face, I'm asking you" Toriko said
"I-I'm honored!" Kimiko cried making the penguin chirp and dance in front of her making her smile. She patted the bird on his head and gave him a hug.
"Wall Penguin." Setsuno said, "So it was you that was the key to completing the soup."
"You noticed?"
"When you've been cooking as long as I have, you can tell when an ingredient walks up to you."
"Something special from this guy was the final ingredient." Kimiko chuckled
"So, are you going to apply for a patent on the soup?" Teppei asked, "Since it's a special dish, they should grant you a patent for it."
"No." Kimiko answered, "To get a patent, I'd have to publish the recipe. The Wall Penguins are endangered, so I can't have them being hunted, and besides." she looked at Toriko, "It's part of Toriko-san's Full Course. I'll protect it with all I've got!"
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Toriko smiled as he and Kimiko sat on the Gourmet Train heading towards Life. Looking at his chef companion, seeing that she had fallen asleep and was resting her head against the wall. He sighed as he remembered when Sani and Coco barged into his recovery room shouting that they'd kill him.
"What's the probleml. It's no big deal, that I go out of my way to see her." Toriko said, "I guess Match's advice was useful."
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Flashback
It was when the group was on the Limousine Jellyfish, when Match went to talk to Toriko. Toriko was currently watching the chef conversing with Tina and Takimaru. Match stood at the corner of the room away from the rest of the group, he looked back at the Gourmet King that was still munching on his food.
"You know, if you're not going to tell her you like her. Then she'll never know." Match said halting Toriko on taking another bite. "Judging from the chef, she doesn't really insinuate anything to you in a romantic sense, does she." Toriko's silence answered for him. "I just know that if you don't say something. Someone else will."
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"I suppose I made the right move, even if those guys came yelling at me," Toriko muttered.
"Toriko-san, stop that." Toriko looked over at Kimiko to see that she was still sleeping. He chuckled as she kept on talking. "Stop eating, you have to wait for, Coco-san and Sani-san."
"Kimiko, you know, one day you're going to have to choose." Toriko said as he patted her head, and then smiled as Kimiko leaned into his touch.
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Lunamugetsu: And now we're finished with the Century Soup arc! Man, that took longer than I thought. Anyway, I know this is a short chapter, stay calm, as the next chapter will be the One Piece crossover. And I'm going to try to see at how I'm going to make it different. So please be patient! PLEASE REVIEW!