"I cannot. CAN. NOT believe you drugged Soma!" Erina stood staring down upon the sprawled out Hisako, the ice queen's glare sent chills up her assistant's spine. As her personal assistant, Hisako knew the next few days, maybe even the next few years would become a living nightmare.

Thanks to the aphrodisiac Hisako slipped into her own dish, Soma brought forth all his willpower to resist being intimate with any of the girls. But he stared on at the scene before him. Yuki, Ryoko, Megumi, Nikumi, Hisako, Erina and Alice all the most desirable girls of the 92nd generation surrounded him, wishing for his attention. He saw potential in having a personal harem all to himself, which chipped little by little at his willpower.

Alice put her hands on her hips, chiming in to scold the poor assistant, "Shame on you Hisako. I would never dream of going to such lengths for selfish reasons."

"Hi, sorry if I'm interrupting," Satoshi Isshiki waved his hand as his head peeked out from the kitchen door. "But I found a certain stray dog sniffing around the kitchen."

Isshiki walked out of the kitchen, towards the gallery with his hand gripping the collar of Kurokiba's shirt. Alice nervously felt the intense stares she received from her fellow contestants.

"Wh-what are two doing in the kitchen?! Can't you see there's a Shokugeki going on?!" Alice propped her hands on her hips acting angry at the actions of Isshiki and Ryo. But considering that Ryo was Alice's personal assistant, she wasn't fooling anyone.

"I just wanted to grab a snack is all." Isshiki pulled a seaweed snack that belonged to Soma's section of the kitchen.

"Oh! I could really go for some snacks right now!" Soma stood up from his seat trying to escape the Shokugeki but the other contestants immediately pushed him back onto the chair.

Erina's nails slowly dug into the exterior of Soma's skin, "Oh no you don't. You haven't tried my dish yet. It'll have you throw your head backwards, gasping, moaning, pleading for more."

"Oya?" Alice had a smug smirk expression, Erina hated that expression, it meant she would have to think of a sly remark to Alice incoming teasing. "Erina, were you imagining Soma's reaction just now? His gasps, his moans~"

"Eh? W-wait, you have it all wrong! It's Hisako's aphrodisiac talking." There it was, Alice's comment which threw Erina off her guard. But she was ready, after all, Alice had no high ground to stand on. "Alice, don't dodge the real problem here."

"What? Ha…haha…Me? Dodging? Alice slowly crept backwards to get away from Erina.

"Yes. You don't really expect me to believe that you don't know anything about THAT." Erina pointed towards Kurokiba who had been forced to kneel.

"Erina." Megumi interrupted. "I don't think we'll get anything out of her. It might be best if we go back to our dishes."

"Hmph. You're right. There's no way I'd lose to anyone who would have someone else do their dirty work for them. Let's go."

Erina and Megumi headed back inside the kitchen and Alice slowly entered the door, feeling the glares from the remaining competitors. Erina and Megumi swiped a finger to their dish to taste test it.

"Strange." Erina raised an eyebrow. "Nothing seems out of place. When I tasted Hisako's drug induced dish, I could immediately tell there was something off about the dish. But…did Kurokiba do anything? Did Isshiki catch him in time? Or maybe, considering Alice's molecular gastronomy background, the reaction hadn't taken effect yet."

"I don't feel any different." Megumi stirred her pot, trying to spot the substance Kurokiba put into her plate. "Erina?"

"Nothing, but I'd stay careful if I were you. It is Alice after all."

Alice puffed her cheeks, "How mean Erina! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"There's a reason Isshiki caught Kurokiba in this kitchen moments ago."

"I don't know anything about that!"

Erina shared a glance of disbelief with Megumi. Erina finally started to get the hang of this abnormal, unofficial Shokugeki. Without professional judges and the eyes of the audience, her fellow competitors could get by with the art of deception and she was not going to let Alice of all people fool her.

"I'll ask you again." Erina cracked her knuckles, "What. Did. You. Do?"

"Nothing!" Alice swung her arms to her sides in a fit. "And what's with that violent gesture!?"

"Oh nothing." Erina imitated a boxer's pose and began to shadowbox. "Just thinking about taking out the lying cheaters in this Shokugeki."

Megumi nervously laughed to herself, "Erina, I never expected you to be the type that prefers brawn over brains. In fact, I think brute force might be the worse sabotage of all."

"Geez Erina! You're so focused on me, that Megumi could get away with anything at this point! Her and Isshiki are close, maybe he did something to your plate!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Erina pointed her finger at Megumi, "Look at her! Megumi wouldn't harm a fly! Her observation skills are top-notch. She always seems to know when something is bothering me. She's been nothing but a supportive friend through and through! Why yesterday, she told me to confront Soma about this annoying aching feeling whenever I see him!"

"Wait…Megumi…told Erina to confront Soma? You mean it wasn't of her own volition?" Alice's eyes widen in horror as she looked past Erina's shoulder to the sight of a smug smiling Megumi who brought up her hand to cover her mouth and hide her own laughter.

"Hehehe. It's exactly what you're thinking Alice. You think Erina motivated everyone into participating in this Shokugeki? You're wrong, the mastermind behind this Shokugeki is I, Tadokoro Megumi."

"You planned all this from the start!" Alice pointed accusations at Megumi. "You baited Erina into creating an opportunity for this Shokugeki."

"Hah?" Megumi gave Alice a delinquent-like stare. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"We only declared this Shokugeki yesterday but…you've been planning this Shokugeki for months, haven't you?"

"That's not possible Alice. You can't plan for a Shokugeki, not knowing the theme." Erina tried to reassure her. "Now stop trying to accuse Megumi for being an unfair competitor and stop distracting me! I have a dish to fix, thanks to Nikumi."

Alice accepted Erina's answer as a reasonable one and readied herself to continue her dish but she noticed Megumi smugly smiling and heading towards her vicinity. Megumi needed access to the spices and seasonings which were near the cupboard beside Alice. As she made her way, crossing paths with Alice she whispered to her within earshot, unheard by Erina.

"Soma's easygoing and carefree. I mean, anyone that truly loves Soma would know that'd be his theme. But you didn't know that, did you?"

"W-why you?…" Alice whispered back. She had every right to alert Erina but it felt useless. This entire time, Megumi used Erina, the queen of Tootsuki as a mere pawn in this intricate chess-like Shokugeki. Erina suspected nothing of Megumi and thought she was the only other clean competitor but that was far from the truth.

"Alice. Are you baking, a lava cake perhaps?"

Alice felt a shiver run across her spine, she found it hard to breathe, "How…"

"And you're going to make a cage of white chocolate using liquid nitrogen?"

"Ding."

The sound came from oven in which Alice baked her lava cake, which indicated it had finished baking.

"Sounds like you're almost done. You know, if you're so suspicious of me, why don't you take a small nibble? Good luck." Megumi finished grabbed her seasonings and spices and returned back to her dish.

Alice, took any sort of compliment from Megumi as sarcasm from this point on. Megumi knew the approach Alice would go for, knew that she'd go for the route of baking rather than cooking. But what Alice hoped for, is that Megumi did not know why she chose to make a dessert.

"Tadokoro Megumi, I'll wipe your bitchy smug grin off your mouth. Angel my ass. I still have…a secret ingredient up my sleeves."

"A dessert?" Erina found the very nature of the dish to be rather bland by Alice's standards. Alice's cooking typically had more flashiness and finesse to it. "True her style of cooking is more suited towards desserts but she always left her recipient in awe from having a meal look like dessert. Just what are you planning?"

"You know what I'm making? So what?" Alice cleared her throat before announcing her plan to the remaining contestants. "Do you know why I'm making a dessert?"

Megumi and Erina looked on, they weren't close to finishing their dish, in comparison to Alice.

"In a 4 course meal, there's the soup or salad, the appetizer, the entree and then…dessert."

"Ah! You mean, you're trying to-" Erina had figured it out.

"Yes. When someone is eating their dessert, whether they want to or not, their body is telling them that this will be the last part of the meal they ate. Which means, after Soma eats my dessert, he won't have the appetite for either of your dishes!"

"T-that's not fair! I was done first but Nikumi added in the salt so I had to change it up!"

"You're redirecting your anger at the wrong person. That has nothing to do with me, my dear cousin."

Alice had just about finished up with the finishing touches on her dessert and with a cocky grin on her face, she passed by Megumi, talking quietly enough so only Megumi could hear.

"Hah. In a 4 course meal, who's ever heard of the soup going after the dessert? Your dish would have been best received by Soma, had you gone first. Don't estimate the Nakiri family, Tadokoro Megumi."

"Alice, where are you going?" Erina called out to her, "The judging is that way." She pointed to the correct door.

"Oh I know. Seeing Isshiki-senpai just reminded me of something."

"Reminded you…of something?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there." Alice proceeded to lick her lips and wink. "So leave the kitchen, wait for me and enjoy the show~"

Alice confidently presented the dish before Soma. It was encased in a glass cover. From the outside all anyone could see was the fog pressing up against the lid. But more so than the flashy presentation of the dish was the attire worn by Alice. After weeks of wondering, she had finally learned what the inhabitants of Polar Star meant by Isshiki's naked apron. The front one covered by the apron and so was her butt. But everyone could tell that Alice had stripped down to nothing with only the fabric of the apron teasing her shapely body.

"I thank you for the aphrodisiac, Hisako! I must look irresistible right now." Alice bent over as she placed her hand over the glass cover, emphasizing the fair skin of her cleavage being contained by the pure white apron.

Kurokiba clenched his hands tightly, the person he'd serving for half his life stood before him and everyone else, acting shamelessly and fawning over his rival. Soma on the other hand tried his best to keep his eyes on the prize, the dish presented by Alice. But as a boy at the height of puberty and being dosed with an aphrodisiac, his eyes slowly averted to Alice's body until it became obvious that he'd be ogling her.

Alice hid a smile to herself, "It's working! That's right. You can stare all you want. And if you were man enough to ask, I'd even allow you to touch all you want."

"Ahhh~ It's nice to see a fellow apron enthusiast." Isshiki gave off an aura of sunshine and rainbows, unfazed by Alice's attire. To him, the naked apron was a way of life.

Hisako shook a fist at her, "Grrr. That's dirty Alice!"

Nikumi walked up behind Hisako and put her in a headlock, "This is all your fault!"

"If I recall…" Megumi jealously stared at Nikumi's chest, "You were pushing your chest up with your arms to show them off. Because you knew any normal boy his age would react that way."

"Urk!"

"Any normal boy…" Erina rudely pointed at Soma, "You think anything about Yukihira is normal!?"

Soma began to salivate, with drool falling from the side of his face without his knowing. Could it be from the sight of Alice or from eagerly waiting to eat his dish? Either way, it was truly unsettling for the competitors.

"Just a little bit more and I'll have this Shokugeki in the bag."

"Alice." Soma didn't know where to look but he kept staring at places one shouldn't be openly staring at. "Can I see what's underneath? I don't think I can wait any longer."

The jaws of the gallery dropped. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Did Soma just say what they think he said? There's a time and a place for everything, but not now! Not with everyone here watching. The tears of all the girls watching figuratively broke into pieces at the sound of those words. Megumi had it the worse. She was so confident in herself but after seeing the tricks of each competitors' sleeves, she didn't know how much more her heart could take.

"Heh." Alice brought her index finger to the collar of her apron, slowly tugging downward, "Ask and you shall receive."

"What are you doing, Alice?" Soma clapped his hands together twice.

"Huh? I-I-I'm doing exactly what you asked me to do?"

"The dish. It's blocked by the foggy glass cover. I can't see what's underneath."

"Y-you meant the d-d-d-d-dish? Are you sure?"

"Duh. What else is there?"

"Why my body, of course!"

Erina flicked her hair, "If Yukihira were a normal boy, then maybe I'd actually be able to tolerate him."

"Do you not SEE the naked apron? Are you not tempted by this lewd, ample, sexy body standing here looking like this before you?" In a fit of anger Alice prepared herself to go all the way, ready to drag down on her apron anyway but felt a familiar hand grabbing her wrist.

"Miss. You look silly. This look is unbefitting for a young lady such as yourself. Excuse yourself and change your clothes, I'll make sure nothing happens to your dessert, I know how hard you've worked on it after all."

"But Ryo!" Alice tried to defy his instructions but noticed the firm grip on her wrists. "Ryo must be so embarrassed. I don't think he's planning to let me go until I accept it." Alice nodded, "Fine, have it your way. I'll change."

Kurokiba released his hand from Alice's wrist. She shook her hand, he held it so tightly that it'd lost feeling and became numb for a moment. Kurokiba had never grabbed her that tightly before but then again, he'd never seen Alice that exposed before.

Alice started to strut, prance and skip on her way to where she left her clothes but before leaving the room she glanced over at her fellow contestants, "You're lucky. Just a little bit more would have pushed him over the edge. If anyone else wins, then I hope you can take pride in the fact that you won on a technicality. You can thank Ryo for that."

"Somebody's a sore loser. You've never beaten me, Alice. If I win, then I'll take pride in the fact that the score between us will be 82-0." Erina cheekily replied back.

"82 Straight?!" Everyone was taken back by that fact.

"And besides," Hisako confidently shrugged her shoulders, "In this Shokugeki, aren't we all doing whatever it takes to win? Tricks and sabotages have been fair game so far."

"It's just you!" Nikumi tightened her headlock.

Hisako struggled for some air. "You salted Erina's plate!"

Erina's eye twitched as she charged at Alice's veiled dessert. Before Kurokiba stepped in to hold her back, Megumi locked her arms from underneath.

"Erina, don't!"

Kurokiba stared on with his expressionless face, "Thanks, for everything."

Alice entered the room in normal, proper clothing, much to the disappointment of Isshiki. With a defeat look on her face, she sighed and lifted it and the fog released, unveiling a lava cake caged by white chocolate frozen by liquid nitrogen

"Finally!" Soma's eyes were glued to Alice's dish. Alice had poked a small hole in the lava cake, which caused the heat of the cake to rise up against the white chocolate cage. Slowly, the white chocolate melted, drip by drip like the running of a candle, onto the lava cake itself. Soma felt like a kid at a science fair, slowly watching his dish unravel its true form before him.

"Alice…she's using his curiosity and her playful style of cooking to grab his attention. Even without the naked apron, she still had this as a backup?" Hisako observed freely, lucky for her, Nikumi no longer had her in a headlock.

Soma waited until most of the cage stopped melted. At that point any remains of the white chocolate cage, Soma took apart with his own fingers and crunched into it as if it were a white chocolate bar.

"There's something…peculiar about the taste of this white chocolate."

"Oh, is there an aphrodisiac in there too?" Nikumi joked as the other competitors shot a quick dirty glance at Hisako.

"No, but it tastes bittersweet. Oddly enough, I like it." Soma continued to nibble on it, wanting to savour the taste but felt like he should move onto the lava cake before it lost any more fresh heat. "I'm digging in."

Soma cut a clean slice of the lava cake using his spoon. From there, the cake oozed out shades of orange, brown and green melting chocolate. The overwhelming smell and sight of chocolate had Soma falling to temptation and ready to take a bite without thinking. The gallery could only help but watch as Soma eyed the dessert with lustful stares.

Kurokiba saw the sparkle in Alice's eye, this was where she got fired up to show off and explain her plate,"Miss, you look thirsty, here a glass of water." Like a good assistant, Kurokiba had prepared the water beforehand.

"Thanks Ryo." Alice gulped down the glass of water. She looked at the glass oddly, "God, Ryo knows better than to give me tap water!" Alice proceeded onward, her naked apron plan failed but soon enough she returned to tiptop form, "It's a quadruple chocolate lava cake. For the exterior, I used regular unsweetened chocolate, on the inside are caramel, milk chocolate. And of course, the white chocolate which melted, drizzled on top of the cake."

"Wait only 4 types of chocolate? Then why does it look…" Nikumi eyed the dish closely. "Green. I see a bit of green."

"It's matcha." Kurokiba answered for Alice. "I've seen her experimenting and trying to incorporate it into her dishes."

Erina brought out her glasses, ready to lecture her fellow peers, "Matcha has a bunch of health benefits-"

"Enough talking." Soma cut her off.

"How rude!" Erina puffed her cheeks at him.

"But look at cake, it's bubbling before me, I can't hold back anymore." Soma's mouth inched closer to the slice of cake and took the tip of his tongue to taste.

"Ahhhh, hurry up and chow it down already!" Kurokiba roared at him with a fiery passion, as he suddenly wore the bandana which famously caused a personality change within him. "Or are you saying the missus cooking ain't good enough for ya?"

"Hey, hey. I'm just being cautious." Soma reassured him. "The last dish had a drug. Who knows what's inside this dish."

"Hah? You think she'd stoop that low!?"

"Naked apron…" Everyone in the gallery thought quietly.

Soma licked his lips, savouring the taste that was on the tip of his tongue moments ago.

"So? Do you feel any different? Is there an aphrodisiac inside?" Erina tried to pester him, gauging his reactions and expressions.

"I feel fine. Time to go for more!"

Soma graciously took 2 large bites, happily moaning from the delicious taste. The small scientific show when Alice presented the plate, had elevated his expectations and the tastes lived up to those expectations. Soma scooped up for his third bite, slowly lifting the piece to his mouth and then dropped it back onto the plate.

"Uhhhhhgh, no more."

"Huh!?" The gallery chorused.

"What?" Alice slammed the table. "What do you mean no more?"

"He's saying it doesn't taste good." Nikumi stifled her laughter.

"No, it tasted good but suddenly, I feel…sick." Soma winced as he held his stomach.

"Feeling sick? That's worse than being forced to feel sexually aroused." Hisako spoke in a tone that looked down on Alice.

"Is she really talking?"

"Mhmm, she is. Using an aphrodisiac should be considered cheating."

Ryoko, Yuki and Isshiki who had stripped and donned his own naked apron logo with a cute bear mascot, gossiped among each other within the background of the audience.

Megumi took advantage of the situation and rushed over to tend to Soma, "Do you know what's wrong?"

"Y-yeah." Soma looked to be in pain. Everyone's attention was on him as they waited to hear what he had to say. "I…think I…have to take a shit."

"Huh?" The room dropped silent. They began to put two and two together. Everyone had Polar Star knew that on a normal day, Soma ate just enough to get through the day, but by being the only judge of this Shokugeki, he was forced to eat full on meals after meals and the breaks in between each competitors dish gave his stomach time to digest and settle itself, making him more full. Moreover, every time he wanted to leave to stretch his legs, someone would either reel him back to his seat or the next competitor's plate would be ready to serve. Everyone had mistaken Soma's expression to be in pain, when in reality, it was constipation, a true twist unexpected by everyone in the gallery!

"I think…there was a laxative in that." Soma pointed towards Alice's cake.

Or so initially thought. If Soma's instincts were correct, if the reasons for his constipation were from a laxative, that would change everything.

"Laxative? Don't be ridiculous why would I sabotage my own-" Alice paused, realizing the actions that transpired, as so did the gallery.

That would mean someone knew this would happen, that would mean someone purposely sabotaged Alice's plate and purposely brought Soma a world of embarrassment and pain.

But to Alice, one thing didn't add up, "Wait, it can't be my cake. I've been taste testing it this entire time and I feel fine."

"I don't know what to say. But this feeling hit me hard soon after taking a bite or two." Soma tried to hold it in as best he could to be respectful to Alice.

"Maybe you used expired eggs?" Yuki tried to play detective.

"Maybe you used expired chocolate." Nikumi chimed in.

"Alice may be dumb."

"Hey!"

"But not dumb enough to cook with expired goods." Erina halfheartedly defended her cousin.

"None of that explains why Alice is fine and Soma's not." Hisako with her medical expertise walked up to Soma, trying to figure out what was wrong. Megumi was beside him the entire time, blushing as she rubbed his back trying to soothe him.

"Hisako…" Erina came to an epiphany, "Don't you have a bottle of laxatives lying around?"

The room came to a halt. "…Restrain her!"

"This again!?"

All the girls except for Megumi, who continued to happily stay by Soma's side, charged at Hisako, violently grabbing at her arms and legs.

"Wait! Hey. Stop that!" Hisako kicked and flailed but she was easily overpowered. "I did have a bottle, in fact I had planned to used laxatives that kicked in about 5 minutes after my dish. If I had gone first, then it'd be the only plate Soma could properly judge, making me the winner."

"Not making things better for yourself." Alice tightened her grip on Hisako, she looked ready to eliminate Hisako, it was her dish after all which got the brunt of it.

"B-but! Someone took the laxatives, so I was forced to use the aphrodisiac!"

"Of course. Why am I not surprised? If something smells, you can expect Hisako to be behind it."

"Quiet Nikumi, you smell like rotten meat!" Nikumi resumed her headlock on the red head.

"Rotten meat? Urghhhh. That's it for me." Soma groaned. He reached his limit. He gently pushed Megumi away and holding his stomach tightly, rushed in a limp to the nearest washroom.

If Hisako were to be believed, then some anonymous person had stolen the laxatives and they were no closer to solving who that person was.

"Was it you?" Hisako questioned her attacker. "There are some laxatives that take a while for some effect."

"That's a stupid suggestion. I would never do that to the person I love. What about you? Fool me once, shame on you. But fool me twice…"

"Love." Erina shuddered at the word being associated with Soma.

"I already used the aphrodisiac!" Hisako's tone had some odd guilty pride off that fact.

"Well it can't be me or Megumi, she's an angel!" Erina tried to deflect any accusations.

"You, I believe. Megumi on the other hand…" Alice stared daggers at her. "But I doubt anyone would ever do that to the person they love. And the only one that doesn't like Soma is…" Alice stopped mid sentence. She was ready to point the suspicion on her cousin but came to the real culprit.

Alice let go of Hisako and walked over to grab her glass of water. She swivelled the remaining water inside the glass around and stood in front of Ryo with her head down and her expressions hidden.

Alice took her glass of water and splashed the remaining water at Ryo's face. Everyone in the room, including Ryo was stunned.

"Bad Ryo…" Alice muttered quietly as she weakly placed the glass of water back on the table. "It was you, wasn't it Ryo? You added the laxative to my cake."

Kurokiba took his bandana off to wipe his face dry and then stared right at Alice. His typical lazy expression didn't change.

"You didn't even know about the Shokugeki and yet, you were found in the kitchen." Alice looked at Megumi and Erina. "I really didn't know why he was in there!" She continued, "And as I was practicing to make the cake yesterday…"

"Miss, what are you making?"

"Hehe, I'm thinking of making a quadruple chocolate matcha lava cake for a special someone tomorrow~"

"Me?"

"I said a special someone. Now where were you, Ryo? I had to go and gather these heavy ingredients all by myself!"

"I went to visit Hisako for some medicine but she wasn't there, so I just took what I needed. If you're wondering, the medicine here isn't for me but for someone important to me."

"The medicine you grabbed, were the laxatives, right?"

Kurokiba scratched the back of his head, "Ahhh~" He sighed, "You found out. Should have known better than to underestimate you."

"Why…?" Tears slid down the side of Alice's round cheeks.

He had seen many expression from Alice over the years but never genuine hope shattering tears. His throat felt clogged, he had begun to feel guilty over his actions, "Do I…need a reason? There's no particular…reason."

Megumi sighed. This was going nowhere and fast. She grabbed a hold of Kurokiba's bandana and tied around his head herself.

Kurokiba's entire body language seemed more energetic than usual and his blood boiled with the fiery spring time of youth.

"Why, you ask?" He sounded more confident this time around as flexed both his arms until you could clearly see the veins bulging out. "Because Alice!"

"Alice? He's never called me that before…"

Kurokiba brought his right hand over his heart, and met eye to eye with Alice, "I like you."

"Eh?" Alice's entire body froze from those words. By the end of the Shokugeki, she had expected to hear those words from Soma today but instead it was the person beside all this time, Ryo and now her brain could no longer keep up with her ears.

"Ohhhhh~~~" Nikumi, Hisako, Ryoko, Yuki and Megumi were all hugging each other as they watched on at the live confession.

"Ah! This is like in that butler and princess manga! This is getting juicy!" Erina watched in awe and joined the huddle of girls, squeezing herself between Megumi and Hisako.

"What sorta man would just idly sit by and watch as the person he likes, pours her heart out cooking for and talking about another man? To dress up in a naked apron and see you show off that body to another man? Not this man, that's for sure. So yeah, I ruined your cake, because he doesn't deserve to taste it and I made him feel literally shitty for trying to steal you away. And I know how you love to taste test your own cooking, so you'd be affected by the laxatives too. But that's why I gave you a glass of water with the antidote mixed in before it could take effect."

"Ryo…"

"Sorry. I've never done a confession before!" Kurokiba's face was a mixture between passionate, embarrassed, lustful and nervous. He didn't know how to feel, he didn't know how Alice would respond, he didn't know what to do and through it all, he was sweating profusely but he tried to keep his composure.

He grabbed a clean spoon and then walked over to the plate of unfinished, laxative-filled cake and picked it up.

"Eh? Ryo? What are you doing?" Alice asked him.

"I told you didn't I?! He's not going to finish this! He doesn't deserve to taste your cooking. So no matter how bad you mess up, no matter how much you try to experiment. Give it all to me. Because I don't care, I'll eat all your cooking, Alice!"

Erina smiled with her arms crossed over her chest, "Heh, big talk. But we all know you have the antidote. Though I applaud your intentions, Kurokiba."

"I don't." Kurokiba dropped an empty vial. The last drops were in the glass of water Alice splashed in his face. "There was only enough for one person." Kurokiba grinned at Alice before happily shouting, "Itadakimasu!"

Ryo took a bite without hesitation and then another, and another until not even crumbs remained. He stood with an intensity that rivalled his concentration when cooking. He tried to keep cool and manly, pretending the laxatives had no impact on him but deep down, he could feel the pit in his stomach sinking to his rear. All the confused expressions on his face shifted to constipation disguised as pain. He averted Alice's stare and then rushed towards the nearest washroom.

"Oii! How long are you gonna be in there?!" Kurokiba pounded away at the door violently. "It's been 10 minutes already!"

"Yeah and I think it's going to be 10 more minutes." Soma's voice could be heard, muffled by the door.

"Don't fuckin' scare me like that!"

"What reason would I have to scare you?"

"Because you only ate 2 bites, I ate the whole cake."

"NOW WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Soma responded back, very confused with Kurokiba's actions. From the moment he entered the washroom, he had no idea what was happening in the outside world nor could he think about anything else. "I said the cake had laxatives!"

"I know it did, I'm the one who added them in!"

"YOU WHAT?!" Soma screeched so loudly his voice cracked. "Then why would you…?! You know, I think it's going to take about 20 more minutes, good luck Kurokiba."

"Wha-? You asshole open the door!"

Everyone gathered up in the dining room. Kurokiba and Soma were hopefully finished with the unspeakable things that lasted for an unspeakable amount of time. Alice giggled, fawning over her longtime friend and now boyfriend, Kurokiba Ryo.

"And soooooo. I'm dropping out of the Shokugeki. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Alice laughed while apologizing. "Ryo! Your turn!"

"My bad."

"Ryo! Properly!"

"MY BAD."

"Grrr." Alice grabbed him by the back of his hair and pushed him all the way down to the ground until he was kneeling before Soma.

"Sorry. Sorry. Won't happen again.

"Woooow, she already has him whipped~" Yuki teased with Ryoko.

"Haha, I think the dynamic will change once Kurokiba wears his bandana." Hisako smiled at the two. "It must be nice… to have your love reciprocated back like that…"

Erina was nodding innocently and approving of their relationship, "Just like in the mangas."

Soma sat in his judging chair and confused at the sight of Alice playfully swaying her body as she held Kurokiba's arm firmly. After years of touching and being touched by one another without a second thought, the newfound couple were unable to look each other in the eye. Alice had been moved by Kurokiba's confession and her feelings for Soma slowly began to disappear. It could have been that deep down, she always liked Ryo but after years of being friends with no sign of progress, she thought he'd never see her that way. And so, she focused her attention on the second male chef to ever defeat her one on one, Soma. But as it all turns out, Kurokiba Ryo had always had Alice on his mind, but he was too shy to say anything, all he needed was a little push. A little push from a certain someone who's plan was now back on track.

"Ah, Kurokiba. Did you hear? Alice is going to participate in a Shokugeki. The winner claims the rights to have Soma all to themselves."

Kurokiba's eyebrows twitched before looking away, "Doesn't have anything to do with me."

"No? I thought you liked Alice."

Kurokiba aggressively placed his hand on Megumi's shoulder, "How did you-…?"

"H-h-h-huh? I thought it was…obvious." Megumi jumped up. "Oh dear, this was a bad idea. He looks like he's going to kill me!"

"Whatever. Nothing I can do about it."

"Maybe there is. You see, it's not a real Shokugeki. There are no rules. So I think the other competitors have some dirty tricks up their sleeve. Hisako has a whole selection of drugs to choose from for example, oh I'm worried about her. I, on the other hand, plan to win fair and square."

"Huh…I'll think about it."

"Congratulations, you two!" Megumi hugged them both. "I'm so happy for both of you! I hope to have what you two have some day." Megumi snuck a peek at Soma before resuming her hug.

The other competitors felt the same. With Alice out of the way, the number of competitors reduced from 5 to 4 but that didn't change a thing. Alice got her happily ever after and by the end of this Shokugeki, they all hoped that they too, would get their happily ever after.

"You know…I've been through a lot today. I don't think my body can handle anymore. Sorry, but I think this is as far as the Shokugeki goes."

A sudden announcement from Soma. He just called it quits. It made sense, he had been in the washroom for who knows how long but that would mean the judging would have to decided then and there. They could postpone the judging but that would mean either starting over from the beginning or having a Shokugeki over two days, which would change everything. Judging dishes days apart could potentially lead to an inaccurate decision if the judge so happened to forget the taste of the previous dishes. And so, Nikumi and Hisako both looked at each other, their faces lightened up and they celebrated amongst each other. But Erina and Megumi lost the colour in their face. One way or another it appeared that Alice's plan worked, dessert was going to be the last thing Soma had. All the dishes along with all sabotages had taken a toll on Soma's body until he could take no more. The end dawned upon the Shokugeki for Soma, dawned upon the suffering of Soma. Or so he hoped but we all knew it couldn't just end here, there were still dishes to be tasted and further catastrophic events to occur. And so continues, the suffering of Soma.

Status of the Shokugeki

Ikumi Mito: Served dish while providing dreams of the faraway future
Hisako Arato: Served dish with an aphrodisiac
Alice Nakiri: Happily Dropped Out (Also would have been disqualified anyway)
Soma Yukihira: Bloated, drugged, clenched and fed up.
Tadokoro Megumi: Unserved and scheming(?)
Erina Nakiri: Salty

AN: This chapter was difficult. Alice's chapter was difficult to write because she has so much potential for sabotages. But I managed to combine about half the sabotages I thought up for her in this chapter and hopefully it turned out well and everyone enjoyed it.

Little spoiler on a future chapter of the fic. There could be a chapter I didn't initially plan to have if it works out it'll be added in. No change to true ending.

Thank you for reading, until the next time!