Hey again! Sorry I missed one chapter, the past couple of days have been very busy. But I'm back and ready to write (type)

First though...

The drafts quite literally follows the anime, and I'm sorry for that (because it must be boring to re-read something you've already heard and read). But I'll definitely edit everything once I'm finished. I can promise you that!

Also, thanks to *TheBearWhoPreviouslyTrolled (like your name, by the way) and *Ryuketsu666 and all the others' reviews! Very much appreciated and love reading your opinions so I could do better in the future!

Enjoy! :D


It was a snowy day outside in the train station, appearing peaceful at the snow falling down from the sky. A train was approaching slowed down to a stop, for the people to enter through or walk out.

A young, female teen with dark-blue hair in braided-pigtails and a flower hairpin clipping her bangs away, yellow-colored eyes, and a petite figure took a step forward, a smile on her face. "My train's here." she uttered to herself. She faced her family behind her, "Alright, I'm gonna get going."

"Megumi, you're really going, huh?" an elderly man said, mostly to himself. "And you've only just turned thirteen!" he started sobbing, bringing a hand to wipe the tears forming in his eyes.

The girl, 'Megumi' smiled reassuringly at him. "'Jii-chan, don't worry."

A young girl behind Megumi's grandfather brought her fisted-hands to her chest, a big smile on her face. "Yeah, Megumi's cooking's the best deal around here!"

"It's good enough for Tokyo, too!"

"Here, a good luck charm to help you stay focused and study." A middle-aged woman approached the blue-haired girl, handing a red charm up for her to take. Megumi slowly took it, her throat clogging up. "H-hai..."

"Megumi,"

"Megumi can be so shy."

Everyone cheering for the blue-haired teen was smiling, sending her their farewells.

Megumi was inside the train, alone as she leaned back near the window, watching the trees of the forests pass by with the snow coating them. 'Arigatou, min'na.' she thought, moving her gaze to the charm the woman gave to her in her hands as tears filled her eyes. 'I'm gonna come back as a real chef for sure!' she thought determinedly, reading the charm that said 'Charm for Academic Success'.

Until she reads a paper in her hands that said,

"Final Notice

3rd-Year, Junior High School Division

Tadokoro Megumi

Should the student named above

receive an E or a non-passing grade in class,

in accordance with school policy,

the student shall be EXPELLED."

"Hiiiiiiiiiii!" Megumi stared in despair and horror at the words in the end, tears on her eyes.


Megumi stared at the sign of Totsuki Academy, nervousness filling her entire being and mind. Tadokoro Megumi, age 15, was the dark-blue haired girl's name.

'My name is Tadokoro Megumi... It's the spring of my first year in high school," she paused on her thoughts, before her whole scenery changed with her standing on a cliff that was carved for her to only stand on, 'and I'm on a knife's edge.'


All the students, who were starting their first year in junior high school, were all lined up in front of a stage for the entrance ceremony.

"We will next present the new students with their class badge." A female's voice resonated around the place, "Incoming valedictorian, Nakiri Erina."

"Hai!" Nakiri Erina, age fifteen, of the High School Division and First-Year, responded back, walking to the front as the wind swayed her honey-blond locks away.

"Ah, Erina-sama..."

"Exquisite as always,"

"Beautiful and at the top of her class..." the students chattered away amongst themselves, the males staring in adoration at the heiress-beauty whilst the females glared in jealousy at the honey-blond for attracting the male populations' attentions already.

"She is perfection incarnate!"

The students continued to compliment the heiress as a badge was placed above her left chest, a polite smile on her face to the green-haired female in front of her.

"If I could go on a date with her for even a single day, I'd die happy,"

"Baka! Watch your mouth! You'll get kicked out of the academy!"

"Yeah, she's the granddaughter of the don who leads the food industry mafia!"

"Well, sure, but..."

Behind the boys who were talking about the heiress, a blonde-haired boy with cerulean-blue eyes stared at them, an unreadable look on his face at what he had heard.

"We now welcome our keynote speaker: the director of our Totsuki Academy," everyone gasped and gulped, intimidated by the words they were hearing and intimidated by the 'old' man on the stage, "Nakiri Senzaemon-sama."

Nakiri Senzaemon, Totsuki Academy's director. He had gray-hair swept to his back, a long scar on his right eye, and a scruffy beard on both his chin and above his mouth. He also was wearing a traditional kimono.

Senzaemon had his eyes closed at the introduction before opening them, showing red intense orbs, and, immediately everyone was frightened by just the sight of him opening his eyes as he stared at everyone.

"H-he's terrifying!"

"He has the entire Academy...no, the entire Japanese food world...under his thumb! He's the ultimate gourmand!"

"Calling him a mafia don is an understatement!"

"He's the Devil!"

"The Devil of food!"

"Greetings," Senzaemon started with his deep and powerful voice, a serious look still remaining on his face that shouldn't be there for an old guy (was what most of the students were thinking). "Congratulations on your advancement to the high school division."

Everyone stared wide-eyed or gawking at the old man.

"During your three years in the junior high school division, you have obtained a basic skill set in cooking and deepened your understanding of each ingredient." Senzaemon began informing them, "In addition to the cooking practicum, you attend classroom lectures on a variety of topics including culinary theory, nutrition, public health, introductory agronomics, and management." his voice boomed throughout the explanation to the students.

"Now, you're finally standing at the entrance to the high school division. The challenges you'll now face are not about your skills or knowledge, but whether you have the wherewithal to survive as a food professional."

"Ninety-nine percent of you..." Senzaemon pointed at the crowd, at everyone, "...are meant to be sacrifices for honing the remaining one-percent!"

Everyone gasped, some panicking, some alarmed, some blank-faced, and others expressing their own way of how they took in the information.

And some in amusement, "He's got quite the speech, nii-chan." A chubby, brown-haired boy said to his brother, who had blonde-hair and blue eyes. "He called them sacrifices!"

"Ah, you're right."

Megumi stared ahead, scared, as she brought up her trembling fists near her chest.

"Of the eight-hundred and twelve students who entered our high school division last year, only seventy-six advanced to the second year!" Senzaemon continued, "Incompetence and mediocrity will be mercilessly excised from our student body. A thousand first-years will be whittled down to a hundred by next year, and we can count those who'll advance to graduation on one hand."

"Aspire to become one of the small handfuls of those professionals!" he pointed a finger at them all once again, "It should be you!"

Soon enough, all the frightened and unsure students grinned back determinedly, all confident as the words rung on their heads.

"Hone yourself!" the director allowed his words to sink into their minds, before saying his final words, "That is all." and walked away from the mic.

Meanwhile, Erina was sitting behind the stage with eyes closed, a leg over her thigh and arms folded under her chest. 'This academy only has such strong name recognition because of the intense competition allowing only a select few to complete their education.' she thought, opening her purple-pink eyes open. 'Should one succeed in advancing to actual graduation, their stardom in the food world is assured for their remaining lifetime.' her gaze shifted to the ground. 'But I pity those of you who're in the same generation as me.'

'You have been destined to fight over who gets to be second place since the time you were born. The pinnacle of Totsuki Academy, and of the Japanese food world,' her eyes opened, a small smirk on her face, 'belongs to me, Nakiri Erina!'

"Finally, we'd like to introduce one transfer who'll be joining your ranks today."

Erina looked up, a flash of confusion in her eyes before gazing down, 'So one student made the cut in a different exam?' she mused, almost feeling impressed and wondered who the student would be.

Almost.

So no, not really, she doesn't particularly care whatsoever.

But then she frowned as an image of the red-head's back, who challenged her the day before with stunning, fiery red hair, curvy body wearing a male's uniform, appeared in Erina's head. 'Yukihira... Souma...' the feeling she had felt when eating the egg dish of her body being caressed by feathers popped into her head. She closed her eyes, 'Hmph! Just the mere memory of it makes my blood boil.' And just seeing the red-head's infuriating innocent smile was a different case.

'I'll never have to see her again.' Erina was so busy drowned in her thoughts that she didn't pay attention to what was happening outside as a certain red-head who invaded her head was now standing in front of everyone.

"Oh, I'm sorry to be talking to you all up here."

"Just be quick about it, please."

Erina's mind was finally back to earth when she heard a female's voice whispering to someone, her eyes opening and glanced to the side, her ears open and listening.

"I'll keep it short and sweet, then." An oddly familiar female voice said, and Erina somehow couldn't help the nagging feeling on the back of her head that she recognized the voice.

"Just a couple sentences,"

And then the pieces clicked.

"HAAAAAA?!" Erina screamed in shock and horror, her face drained of color with a blue hue instead when finally realizing whose voice that belonged to.

Souma was standing in front of the mic; small hands clasped together behind her back and wearing the same dark male uniform with her Yukihira cooking uniform. "Ano, I'm Yukihira Souma." she started, her messy and spiky red hair tied in a low-ponytail. "To be honest, this academy's just a stepping stone for me!" everyone stared in appall and completely gaped as the red-head continued, "I wasn't expecting to transfer here, but I don't plan on losing to folks who've never actually served customers."

Souma paused, tilting her head slightly in a cluelessly innocent fashion that caused some of the students to blush and stare before resuming, "Anyway, what I'm getting at is... Basically, now that I'm here," she lifted a delicately pale finger up, a neutral and oblivious look on her face, "I'm gonna take the number one spot!" she declared nonchalantly.

A certain blond-haired, blue-eyed male snapped his eyes open, shocked at the words the red-head had spoken. He wasn't alone, though, as everyone else stared in disbelief, surprise, shock, and incredulous.

Souma stepped out of the front and to the side, a smile on her face that was so beautiful that everyone almost forgot about the words she had said prior. Almost. "I'm looking forward to being with you all for the next three years!" she bowed her head respectfully and politely, and also nonchalantly.

When the words finally settled into everyone's heads, they were absolutely livid and offended by the red-head, though mostly the female population since most of the boys seemed to be in a daze as they stared at the golden-eyed female.

"You little—!"

"Hey!"

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Die!"

"Wait a minute!"

The girls threw objects at the red-head, who seemed to be oblivious and none of the items were even hitting her, as Souma walked into where Erina would be, her eyes closed and a hand on her chest as she sighed. "Phew, I managed to not bite my tongue..." she uttered to herself, and raised her head before a surprised look took over her features.

"Ara... Oh! You're the one from the exam!" Souma said in surprise, "Ano... Nakiri, right?" she tried to remember the blonde's name.

Erina only stared wide-eyed at the red-head, disbelief on her eyes as Souma walked closer. "Man, that was nerve-wracking." Souma had her finger scratching her cheek in an innocent fashion. "It's not like I've ever had to stand up there to get awards of stuff like that." she leaned forward to the heiress, a smile on her face, and didn't notice the annoyed look on Erina, "Ne, how was I? Was I weird?"

Erina finally had enough, "Who cares about that?!" she exclaimed, a tick mark on her head, "Yukihira-chan! Why are you here?!" she demanded, not caring that she sounded unkind, or noticed the change of honorific she used for the red-head.

Souma only blinked cluelessly (and didn't notice the change), her hand reaching into her (male) uniform. "Huh? Why?" she showed a letter to the heiress that reads 'Letter of Acceptance'. "Wouldn't you come if you got an acceptance letter?" she inquired.

Erina gasped in shock, staring at the letter before looking at the red-head, "How?!"

Souma kept the letter back into her uniform, a relieved look on her face. "Man, you had me scared right there. You said it was disgusting. If it was good, you should've just said so."

"That's not it!" Erina protested with wide eyes and mouth slightly open, her mind going haywire. 'That's not it! That's not it! I rejected her!'

"Is it delicious, or disgusting?" Souma pointed at the honey-blond heiress, an eager look on her face. "Tell me!"

"Disgusting!" Erina shouted in the bottom of her heart with her eyes closed, tears on the corner of her eyes and a flustered blush on her face.

Souma paled drastically to the color of paper, "NANIII?!"

Erina clenched her teeth, a shadow covering her eyes as she trembled before, finally, flipping her hair away with the wind, a serious look on her face. "I'll say one thing!" she started, "I haven't accepted you! Neither you, nor your cooking!"

Souma stared in confusion, still clueless, and that seemed to piss Erina off even more (for some odd reason).

"This is a mistake! A mistake, okay?!" Erina placed her hands on her hips, "You came here to Totsuki because there was a mistake!" she then gestured a hand to herself, a confident look on her face. "Taking the number one spot? Don't make me laugh. Everyone's who's been a student since junior high has been learning cutting-edge gastronomy!" Souma stayed silent as Erina continued to rant.

"I can already tell that an outsider transfer student like you wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of beating them!" she walked pass the red-read, missing the unreadable flash in her golden eyes.

"Three years in junior high, huh..."

Erina stopped briefly, glancing at the red-head over her shoulder. "So?"

There was a pause, before Souma spoke up again, "I first held a kitchen knife at the age of three." she started as the sakura blossoms began swaying from the wind gently, "I've been practically living in the kitchen ever since for the past twelve years." the wind shifted, blowing Souma's jacket to show her restaurant uniform underneath, a small smile on her face while Erina stared in surprise at the information.

"I can't let you smear mud on our restaurant," Souma turned to the honey-blond, a confident expression on her face, "by leaving after you said my cooking's disgusting." she raised a fist, her smile growing wider. "Just you wait! I'll make you say 'delicious'!" an excited glint passed her golden eyes, "I'll use everything I've got in my cooking arsenal!"

Erina felt an unknown emotion bubbling in her stomach from the third sentence and set her lips in a firm line, the wind blowing around the two of them as she stared at the red-head's flowing, spiky red hair, and Souma's golden eyes nearly glowing in an ethereal way.

Outside the females, Nakiri Senzaemon had his arms folded and eyes closed, standing behind the tent, before opening his red eyes, a lopsided smirk on his face with a small chuckle.


After the ceremony, all the students were heading back into the academy. A female student with teal-colored eyes and amber-colored hair tied neatly into two buns on the sides of her hair closed her eyes, an amused smile on her cute face. "Well, that was some transfer student." she said with an amazed tone, opening her eyes.

Her friend with long purple hair (that looked close to pink) with split bangs that reached her busty chest and blood-orange eyes smiled, "But maybe you need that much attitude if you're going to survive in this academy."

"You might be right! Let's give it our best shot!" the amber-haired female looked over her left shoulder with a closed eye-smile, "Ne, Megumi?" When no response was heard, the two females turned behind them in confusion, staring at the space behind them with the violet-haired female sweat dropping.

"Where's Megumi?"

"Ara?"


Meanwhile with Megumi, she held her fists together above her chest, a little lost and blue. 'I want out...' small tears were forming in her eyes, 'I'm definitely up for first place in the sacrifice category.'

Megumi was sitting alone in the place where the entrance ceremony had taken place, isolated and quiet. 'I got the lowest passing score on the high school entrance exam, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time until the final...' she trailed off, before clenching her shaking fists, 'No, don't give up!' Megumi told herself, her family and friends coming into mind. 'I have to live up to everyone's expectations back home!'

Her yellow eyes was now filled with determination, 'Anyway, I'm only just scraping by right now as it is. I should keep my head down and avoid any attention unlike that transfer student!'

Megumi stood up, finally finding her resolve. 'Yosh! I'm not going anywhere near that girl!'

"You'll be splitting off into different classes and starting your coursework right off the bat." the teacher said, and, currently, most of the students were pissed off and glaring at a certain someone.

"Today, you'll be cooking in pairs with your current partner. Got it?"

And the certain someone was the red-headed, and clueless, beauty, Yukihira Souma, who was whistling a quiet tune to herself and was oblivious to the others, glaring and blushing at her. Megumi was also staring in terror and dread at the red-head, who she finally got a closer look of the transfer student.

Souma noticed the stare from the dark-haired girl and faced her, lifting a hand in greeting. "Ah, nice to meet you,"

Megumi flinched, her hands going to her cheeks as her face turned blue in horror and how she literally jinxed herself. 'Whyyyyy?!'


Some students were still whispering to one another as they stared at the oblivious red-head, while Souma was throwing an onion up and down. "Wow, the last time I cooked in class was for home economics!" she said to herself, a smile on her pale face.

The two students behind her were talking to each other, gazing at the red-head. But they weren't alone as the other students were chattering as well.

"Hey, look."

"Yeah,"

"It's the transfer student who was running her mouth off at the opening ceremony."

"She's all talk, anyway."

"But now that we look at her closely, she's a real beauty, isn't she?"

"You're right about that. Besides, look at that body!"

"I think we found ourselves an eye-candy, eh?"

"So..." Souma started, catching the onion in her hand and side-glanced at the petite girl beside her. "Tadokoro-san, was it?" she questioned, turning her head to the female who was crouching on the ground writing the kanji for 'man' on her hand repeatedly and 'eating' it. "Why're you writing the 'man' character on your hand over and over?"

Megumi snapped out of it and raised her head to look at the confused red-head, flustered. "Oh! Th-this is...so that I won't get nervous," she answered hesitantly, her face suddenly feeling hot at the stare the red-head was giving her. She didn't really know why though.

Souma blinked, not following whatsoever. "Nervous?" she repeated, "Why?"

Megumi stared at the red-head a little longer before looking down at the ground sadly, "If I get even one more E rating, I'll get expelled..." she told her, feeling down and worried for her future in cooking.

"Eh? I'd heard this is an elite school," Souma stared blankly and somewhat surprised at the dark-haired girl, "but I guess even they have people like you." she commented bluntly, her hands in her pockets behind her waist-apron.

The words seemed to stab Megumi in the heart, not having a great feeling now. 'And here I wanted to survive by keeping a low profile...' she began to sulk, her eyes gloomy. 'Now I'm paired with this girl, of all people...'

Souma, clueless as ever, didn't notice Megumi's inner turmoil and greeted herself, "Ah, I'm Yukihira Souma." she raised a friendly hand up to the blue-haired girl, a kind closed eye-smile in place. "Souma's fine, though. Nice to meet you!"

Megumi was no longer crouching on the floor and faced the red-head hesitantly, a hand near her chest. "Oh..." she suddenly remembered that she hadn't greeted the red-head back. "Nice to...meet you, too..." she trailed off when noticing the glares she and Souma was receiving, and Megumi noticed that most of the glares were directed to her, filled with jealousy from the guys and the girls were glaring at Souma with envy and...well, jealousy.

'The...the stares hurt...' Megumi thought, avoiding the said stares and glares from the others. 'I wonder if she's even noticed...' she subtly glanced up at the red-head and saw a kind smile on Souma's face, her rosy lips glossing, and her dark-red lashes glinting in the light. Megumi silently squeaked and lowered her head, her cheeks heating up abruptly. 'Wh-what was that...?!'

"Attention!" a rough, aggressive voice got everyone's attention away from the red-head and Megumi. A man with slicked back blond hair and a red tie on his neck walked to the front. "Ohayou, my young apprentis." he greeted blandly, eyes narrowed and sharp.

"Ohayou gozaimasu," everyone greeted back, including Megumi, whilst Souma stared in confusion at the man. "A...A... Apple tea?" she muttered, attempting to repeat the word the man had just said.

Megumi suddenly began sweating, getting nervous and flustered as she heard the quiet words from the red-head behind her. "That's Roland Chapelle-sensei," she informed the confused Souma.

Roland Chapelle, Totsuki Academy lecturer and French Cuisine Lead. "You will all become responsible for creating a dish the moment you step into the kitchen." he started speaking, sliding his blue eyes closed. "Neither experience nor status can excuse you from this duty." he opened his eyes again, almost resembling a glare. "In my class, any dish that fails to deserve an A rating will automatically receive an E rating." he explained to the class, and all the students were silent, nervous. "Remember that."

Megumi tilted to the side, inwardly crying waterfalls. 'I've got the worst luck... I can't believe my very first class has to be with Chapelle-sensei, of all people!'

"The teach looks scary." Souma commented, and Megumi whirled around to the red-head. "He's notorious at Totsuki for being extremely strict with grades." Megumi told her, and Souma blinked as the yellow-eyed girl continued, "Last year, he gave E ratings to all fifty students in his class, eighteen of whom were expelled as a result of that rating. His nickname is 'The Chef Who Never Smiles'."

"Eh?" Souma blinked, not impressed yet not not impressed at the same time. Megumi only continued to tremble in fear and anxiety at the chef in front of them.

"Today's menu item is boeuf bourguignon." Chapelle stated, leaning on his hands that were on the table with a blank frown on his face. "It can be said to be a staple French cuisine, but I'll put the recipe up on the whiteboard anyway." he said as a man behind him was writing on the board.

"Two hours is your time limit. Each team should serve the dish as soon as it's complete." The students gasped and stared at the chef with fear and panic, but Chapelle paid no attention to them. "Let us begin. Start cooking!"

Everyone immediately spread and started finding their tools and ingredients. Souma only stared in confusion again. "Did he just say to add diced cucumbers?"

Megumi was trembling before sighing, her shoulders sagging. 'I just have to do this... Stay calm and nail each step...' she turned to face her partner behind her, her eyes closed. 'Besides, Souma-san seemed pretty confident, too.' she opened her yellow eyes, a hopeful smile on her face. 'I bet her cooking skills aren't too shabby—'

"Boeufu bouru—n-nani?" Souma tried repeating the words on the board, her golden eyes narrowed in confusion and it seemed as if question marks were floating near her head.

"Hiiiiiiii! Souma-san, you've never made it before?!" Megumi squeaked, sweat dripping on her head as a dumbfounded hair bounced out from her braids.

Souma glanced at the dark-haired girl, "Nope, I haven't." she answered honestly and cluelessly.

Megumi just turned around trembling, her face blue and her hands on her cheeks. When had her luck run out anyway?

"It's basically like braised beef sinew, right?" Souma continued, smiling cluelessly and tilted her head with her eyes closed, not noticing Megumi's panicked posture. "Well, I'm sure we'll manage." she began walking to their cooking station, her golden eyes open with obliviousness. "I'll go take a look at the recipe."

In Megumi's head, she could practically feel the words 'Crap' hanging above her as she held her head in complete and utter despair. 'I might be screwed, after all...'


As the other students stared and glared, Souma resumed whistling a quiet tune to herself with her hands stuffed in her pants, her eyes taking in the recipe board in front of her.

Sometime later, Megumi was stirring mushrooms on the fryer, nervous. 'Sauté mushrooms in butter before adding them to the pot...' she thought to herself, and moved to the pot to lower the heat. 'Then you just simmer everything at low heat...' she leaned in and stared at the pot, quite intently. 'Take the beef out in forty minutes. Take the beef out in thirty-nine minutes.' she counted in her head, not blinking even once. 'Take the beef out in thirty-eight minutes.'

"Tadokoro, look!" Souma called out, promptly snapping Megumi out of her trance as she jumped in surprise and looked at the red-head. "Look, so many spices!" she said in slight amazement, her voice tinged with awe at the amount as she faced the cabinets.

Megumi finally blinked once in incredulity, before leaning back and sighed in exasperation. "I feel like an idiot for being all anxious by myself." she absently said, subconsciously thinking about how Souma was totally fine and not worried, before perking up in thought. "Oh, I should just get the serving dish while I can." she walked around the station towards her clueless, red-headed partner.

While she began to leave, the two males behind Souma and Megumi's group glanced over at the blue-haired girl, an evil smirk on their faces.


Souma was whistling as she walked by, before stopping by on hers and Megumi's station when she noticed something that wasn't right. The steam was coming off the pot that was slightly open. "Eh?" she looked to the blue-haired girl busy doing something in front of her, "Tadokoro, did you open the lid?" Souma questioned, her hand pointing at said pot.

Megumi looked up from her work and glanced at the red-head behind her, confusion in her yellow eyes. "Huh? I don't think so," she approached the pot near the red-head with her hands close to her chest. "We still have to simmer it for twenty more minutes."

Feeling as if someone was staring, Souma glanced behind her to see two smirks from the male students just behind hers and Megumi's station. Her golden eyes widened slightly in realization.

Souma opened the lid of the pot, her eyes filled with shock, and Megumi gasped lightly. Inside the pot where the beef was being cooked, the top of the meat was covered in big chunks of some sort of white seasoning. A feeling of dread filled Megumi's gut.

"Wh-what is this white stuff?!"

Souma took a teaspoon and scooped a small amount of the substance on the tip of the spoon, bringing it up to her mouth and licked a pinch of it, the taste spreading on her taste buds. Her golden side-glanced at her partner, eyes narrowed. "It's salt." she stated.

Megumi gasped, a hint of fear in her yellow eyes. "How?! Wh-what are we going to do?!"

Chapelle moved his gaze at the two females with hardened eyes, hearing the blue-haired girl's panic.

"We can't use this meat anymore!" Megumi leaned back, her eyes wavering. "We'll have to start over! But it takes more than an hour to tenderize and season the meat!" tears began forming on her eyes, her voice getting smaller and scared. "Then we have to braise the meat in the sauce for at least half an hour so that the flavors mingle." Megumi peered up at the clock.

"We only have thirty minutes left... But if we serve this salt-caked dish," Megumi's yellow eyes moved to the meat inside the pot, "we'll get an E rating for sure." Images of her family and friends back home flashed in her mind as she held the red charm her mother gave her in her trembling hands. 'Okaa-san... Gomen, min'na, I'm done for...' tears trailed down on her face, her shoulders shaking as she did her best to hold back a sob.

A loud clattering of a steel tray placed on the table was heard. "I got spare ingredients." Souma's carefree voice stated, Megumi releasing a confused "Huh?" as the red-head rubbed her arm. "Alright, let's put our game face on."

"Huh? Eh?" Megumi repeated, her eyes nearly flickering out of light. "Souma-san, but there's no way we're gonna finish in time."

"That teacher says some pretty good things." Souma began untying the headband on her wrist, pulling it away as it fluttered. Megumi only stared in confusion as Souma continued. "We're cooking pros before we're students."

Light was going back to Megumi's eyes as she stared in surprise and a slight hint of hope.

Souma pulled on the end of the headband, covering her forehead and a couple of her bangs and also tied in a high-ponytail. "I'm gonna serve a dish, no matter what!" she stated determinedly, her small smile filled with confidence.

"Help out!" she faced the stupefied blue-haired girl. Even back at home, at Yukihira, no matter how hard Souma had to work her butt off, she would serve a dish regardless of the cost, because that's how she was taught.

Megumi snapped out of it, eyes still surprised, but complied. "H-hai!"

Souma opened a case of knives and pulled out a sharp and clean one. Her eyes glinted before cutting a vegetable with shocking speed.

"Here's the salt, pepper, and bouquet garni!" Megumi said as she held up leaves and seasoning on her hands. Souma smiled, "Nice!" she responded.

The flame went high as the time ticked over fourteen minutes left. Everything Souma did was like in a blink of an eye, and Megumi could barely follow but all in her mind right then and there was to pass the test.


The male student with lavender-gray hair smirked, pulling a drawer out. "Look, that big-mouthed transfer student's all worked up.

"Maa, I bet an E rating will be guaranteed, no matter what." His dark-haired friend agreed, arms crossed over his chest as the two went back to their station after finding what they needed. They watched as Chapelle tasted a dish from another team, passing them with an apathetic A-rating.

"Each team should be finishing up by now." the lavender-head turned to the pot, "We've only got the sauce left, too. Let's wrap up—"

"Evaluation, please!" Souma's voice cut them out as she and Megumi approached their teacher and judge. The two males snapped their heads to the two girls, eyes widened in disbelief and shock that they had managed to finish their dish on time.

A satisfied grin was on Souma's face, holding up the plate with one hand as Megumi fiddled with her hands in apprehension. "Oagariyo!"

"No way..."

Souma placed the dish on the table; steam still emitting from the meat at how hot and cooked it was as the sauce practically shimmered on the plate.

Chapelle stared at it with blank nonchalance, but a hint of interest glinted in his blue eyes before it disappeared. He pushed his fork into the meat, and watched the juice trail down. His eyes widened and Megumi gasped faintly in surprise.

"The meat's tender..." Chapelle started, eyes slightly wide in shock at the fact that the two females had managed to get the dish done under thirty minutes, and also tender and cooked properly. "The fork's practically springing back."

The two male students behind the girls stared in shock, nearly gaping at what they had heard.

'What?!'

'Impossible! There's no way they were able to braise it long enough!' just the thought of it being finished under thirty minutes sounded impossible in a student's ranking!

"Your team had an accident, if I recall." Chapelle pointed out, staring at the timid blue-haired girl before back at the red-head. "How did you manage to finish the assignment?" he asked, and Souma chuckled slightly, reaching something from her pocket.

"We used honey!" she responded, a proud gleam in her golden eyes as she held up the small jar of honey in her hand. "I kneaded it into the meat before the braise, and it was also included in the seasoning." she explained.

The blonde hummed in thought and moved his gaze to the dish in front of him. "Honey has the protease, which breaks down proteins." he uttered to himself, "The protease went to work on the tough beef flank, allowing you to tenderize it in the short time you had left." Chapelle grabbed a knife and began slicing through the meat, the juices spilling out.

Megumi decided to add her thoughts in as she looked at her red-head partner. "B-but how did you know that you could use honey this way?" she asked, inwardly finding it amazing that the red-head had figured something like that out, and was glad they had made a dish on time.

Souma side-glanced at the blue-haired girl with a coy smile, "A long time ago, I read this cookbook that said pineapple juice tenderizes meat." she explained, and Souma mentally sniggered when she had read the book, her father was sleeping, totally out of the world. "I couldn't think of a reason why I'd get an entire pineapple just for that, so I experimented with a bunch of different stuff to see if anything had a similar effect." Souma held the honey up higher, "Honey has a long shelf life, so it's much more versatile."

Megumi blinked, staring at the red-head in amazement as Souma grabbed a knife and fork, slicing the meat. "Maa, you'll see once you try a bite, Tadokoro." the red-head held the fork up to Megumi and the said girl leaned back slightly in surprise, yellow eyes staring at the glistening meat.

After reluctantly grabbing the fork from the red-head's hands, both Megumi and Chapelle took a mouthful of the meat, and Megumi's eyes widened in astonishment at the flavors that instantly made itself known on her tongue.

In her thoughts, cute little Souma bees were buzzing above her, holding a pot of honey and tilted downwards as the yellow color fell down with glamour. Megumi held her hands to her cheeks, a content and happy expression on her face as the honey pour over her.

It felt like Megumi was swimming in honey, also melting in the flavorful sweet. She wasn't the only one as Chapelle also felt like he was in a pool of the delicious and wonderful honey, a pleased smile on his face.

"Chapelle-sensei...is smiling!" all the students exclaimed in pure shock and disbelief, shock that the chef who was said to never smile had smiled, and disbelief that the person who had caused it was the red-head they had thought was just a loud-mouth.

Chapelle placed the fork on the plate with the knife, "Yukihira and Tadokoro," Souma smiled brightly and Megumi waited in anticipation, "I'll give you an A rating. However..." a disappointed smile made its way to the blond-man's face. "...I regret the fact that I do not have the authority to grant you a higher rating."

Souma pulled the end of her headband away, her messy and spiky red hair falling gracefully on her shoulders, and a joyful grin on her face. "Osomatsu!"

Megumi stared at the red-head in awe; all the doubt going away like it was never there in the first place. At first, she had really thought Souma couldn't succeed in doing any dish. But now, after watching, and hearing, the red-head's demonstration of her skills, she wondered if she could see more of that from the red-head in the future.

"That transfer student's cooking..."

"...got a higher rating than ours?"

The two male students who messed up the girls' meat earlier were gaping in shock, before the dark-haired one smelled something burning and turned around to their pot.

"The meat's burning!"

"Shit!"

The other guy stumbled to his partner, accidentally toppling the salt on his hand and the two could only watch as the salt spilled out of the container, exactly how they did it to the two females.

The two could only cry out in despair, and realized that karma basically bit them back in the ass.

Chapelle only had his eyes closed and arms folded over his chest, his expression calm and neutral even if the tick mark on his head said so otherwise.

"E rating!"


"Souma-san,"

Megumi's voice called out as the said red-head closed the cabinet where the honey belonged to. Souma turned to the red-head, a bright smile on her face. "Ah! Good work back there!" she complimented honestly.

Megumi timidly looked at the ground, but willed herself to look up at the red-head in the eyes, a red blush across her cheeks. "A-ano... Arigatou," she thanked with gratitude and genuine sincerity. "It's all because of you that I..."

Souma only lifted a dismissive hand, stopping Megumi from continuing and grinned openly. "Never mind all that!" she sent the blue-haired girl a thumbs up, "I'm looking forward to working together from now on, Tadokoro!" and she wasn't lying. Seeing what she could do, Souma looked forward to seeing more things from the petite girl.

"Mn!" Megumi smiled softly, 'Maybe I've gotten myself paired up with someone really special...'

She had no idea.

"Oh, by the way," Souma started, an unknown glint flashing in her golden eyes that went unnoticed by the petite girl as she smiled (but Megumi definitely noticed how her smile almost resembled a smirk). "Do you wanna try my new recipe to celebrate our success?"

Megumi perked up, a smile on her face. "Really? I'd like to try,"

A cooked tentacle with honey covered all over was help up by the chopsticks Souma was currently holding, showing it to the frozen Megumi.

"Eh?" Megumi blinked, dumbfounded and her voice tiny in complete confusion. "Ano..."

A devious smile made its way to the red-head's face, "It's honey-pickled squid." Souma stated, and wasted no time and hesitation as she immediately inserted the squid into the dark-haired girl's mouth.

Megumi could only scream in desperation as the honey-coated tentacles wrap themselves around her wrist, her knees, her waist, and her whole body. She could feel the slimy honey getting dragged over her skin that was ripped off of clothing.

'The flavor of the squid had been taken in the wrong direction, making it as disgusting as it had feel to be groped all over by it.'

Souma only chuckled evilly as Megumi suffered the horrible taste on her most-likely abused tongue.


End of Ep. 3 and Ch. 3!

If there are errors, don't mind to point it out. Leave a review if you like, hearing your opinions make my day! :3

Osomatsu!