"There are only 25 chef's left, and the competition is down to the wire! The third round is ahead of us and it is going to be insane! It will determine the final 16 contestants to move on. Whole Island Cooking!" Éclair laughed nervously, "Whole Island Cooking? I just~ I don't want to know what that is. I really don't." Munageh continued, "Each competitor will be cooking a whole entire island! So get ready to choose your island and as well as a partner to go with." The girl jumped for joy, "I don't have to go alone!?" She looked into the crowd, "Toriko!" He nodded, "I know! Let's win this Éclair!"

After picking an island with her partner, Éclair was ready to get cooking. She looked around at the scenery, "This place is incredible!" There were ingredients as far as the eye can see. It was like a wonderland, but filled with delicious food. The girl began to prance around. "Even the island itself smells really yummy! ~I guess we better gather all of the ingredients though. I'm not sure how much time we have, but I certainly don't want to waste it." The man agreed and followed her lead. As they made their way to one of the trees, Toriko reached for one of the fruit and smiled, "This smells so good!" He began to put it toward his mouth before Éclair jumped on the man and snatched it from his hand, "Don't eat that Toriko!" The man pouted, "Aww~ Can't I have just one little bite?" She nodded, "Sure. Go ahead and take a bite Toriko. ~I'll just be disqualified and my dreams of being in the Cooking Festival will end here. ~If you're okay with that then go ahead." He sadly handed the fruit to the girl and she put it in her container. "I thought so. ~Now onward and upward! We've got an island to cook dammit!"

~She was so eager and excited when she first came to this island, but as time passed, her dreams were slowly fading. It was no wonder nobody came to this island. The food kept growing back! An island like this could end world hunger. Éclair sat with her back against her filled containers. "My arms are tired. My legs are tired. My brain is tired, and my confidence is dead." She spoke to her partner, "Why don't you just eat the pile Toriko?" She began to walk over to the edge of the small cliff overlooking the ocean. "I just don't really care anymore." Her voice began to crack as she spoke, "I'm just so frustrated." The man lifted himself from the containers and walked over to his partner. He faced the girl toward him and embraced her in a much needed hug. She spoke into the man's chest, "Why are you over here when you could be eating?" He pulled away and held up her artificial hand, "Ever since this happened, I promised I wouldn't let you get hurt again. That includes me protecting you from yourself." She turned away from the man, "Please eat Toriko. I just want it to be over with. I don't have the stomach to do it myself, but the agony of waiting for failure is killing me. ~So eat the food Toriko!"

It was silent for a moment as the two stood there. Éclair pulled down her bunny hood even further over her eyes. All she could hear were the sounds of the ocean waves. It was calming, but the silence surrounding the waves was distressing. Finally the silence broke, "If I don't eat the food will you still love me?" It was a playful comment, but the words were intentionally picked. The girl didn't say anything. All she could think about was diving into the ocean and swimming as fast as she could. She could imagine death to be a calmer feeling than what she felt in that moment. It was confirmed. He heard what she said back in the Shokurin Temple. Her palms began to sweat and she couldn't bear to stay in silence for one more second. She took a deep breath, "So you did hear? Why didn't you say~" Her words fell short of a sentence as she felt the hood hiding her shame being slid back. Next was her head being gently tilted backward. All she could see was blue hair in her vision. That~ and then darkness. Her eyes closed as the man put his lips to hers. It was a long, tender kiss that was exactly what she was longing for, but the furthest thing from what she expected.

It had been a long time since she felt like that toward anyone. A simple kiss told her everything she wondered about the Bishokuya Toriko. He removed his hands from her face and she from his. The kiss had ended, and a new state of mind began. She leaned her head forward and then turned back to the man. She couldn't help but feel complete bliss. She looked down, "Toriko~" "I didn't hear." The man cut off her words again. "We both didn't." The girl frowned as she looked up, "Both?" The girl frowned, "You didn't say anything! I was on edge for a long time Toriko, if you said anything I would have heard it." He shook his head, "You didn't. You were out of it the moment but I said it. Before the fight with Gaoh. I was kind of hoping you'd have some recollection at some point but you didn't."

'The blue haired man looked back at the girl as Terry came to a stop. "You gonna be okay Éclair?" The girl mindlessly shrugged as she stared off into the distance. Toriko looked over at Rin as she began to set up behind the large rock, "I'm counting on you to take care of Éclair Rin. ~And be careful yourself." She nodded, "You've got my word Toriko." The man looked into the girl's blue eyes, "I'm coming back. You know that." He sighed, "~One guess says you've checked out thinking about your parents right now. I'm not like them though. I do love you. ~And I am coming back. Have faith in your partner."'

Éclair's eyes amplified, "You said you loved me in front of Rin!? No wonder she wants to wring my neck!" The man shrugged, "Well~" She then started pull on the man's vest as she yelled her heart away, "~And why wouldn't you make sure I heard!? Do you know how awkward it was for me to walk around thinking that you didn't care about me!?" She sighed, "Listen Toriko, I'll tell you again right here. I love you. I want to travel to the ends of the Earth with you. You're my best friend and you mean everything to me. ~I came here in hopes of having a great time at the Cooking Festival, and I did. It's because of you that I am even here in the first place. If this is where I am eliminated out of the competition, nothing would please me more than to share this meal with you here on Gourmet Island." The man wrapped his arm around her head and gave her a light noogie. "Hey! You're messing up the pigtails!" He let her go and she quickly put her hood back up. "What was that for!?" He laughed as he took a running jump into the water, "I'm here to help you win this competition right? Stop giving up so easily." The man swam under the water leaving the girl confused still.

'What is he thinking? ~I'm already happy with the outcome of this festival. Why is he still going out of his way? I should admire his no quit attitude. Maybe I'll give this Gourmet Island one more shot. I'll try to cook it.' The blue haired man popped back up from the water and Éclair raised an eyebrow, "Find anything? Four leaf clover, horse shoe, lucky rabbits foot?" The man shook his head, "I dove down here to collect a couple of oysters. They carry the nutrients of the whole island." The girl smiled, "Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that!? So did you find any?" "Not yet." Just as the man responded, the large oyster known as Oyster Isle rose from the ocean. The girl backed away further by the forest trees, "What the hell! It's humongous!" Toriko prepared himself to fight as the oyster headed toward him. "Flying Fork!" The attack was useless against its tough exterior. He put his hands together, "I give thanks for the vast bounty this world provides. Now let's eat! ~Ten Fold Spiked Punch!" The attack landed and saved their skins. The oyster opened and exposed its precious meat. Toriko drooled, "It looks so good!" "Don't even think about touching it! I'm back in this competition now! Let's get this thing back to the Cooking Stadium."

Everyone sat around and ate the delicious oyster. It was a proud moment for Éclair. She wasn't proud that she finished, she was proud that her partner didn't allow her to fail. She walked over to the man, "Hey, can you not eat ALL of the oysters. Save some for the crowd would ya?" He narrowed his eyes at the girl, "Oh, that makes sense Éclair. ~You'll walk through fire with me just to cook the ingredients I capture, but you won't let me eat any of them?" She rolled her eyes, "Don't use my words against me. ~My feelings for you doesn't gain you a free pass to be greedy, so slow down ya glutton!"

The judging was over and it was time for the moment of truth once again. Munageh spoke, "It is time to announce the chef's that will be moving on! ~The 16 finalists are right here!" He pointed to a screen and revealed the remaining few. Éclair pointed "That's me! That's my face~ and hair~ and eyes ~and everything! It's me! I'm moving on to the finals!?" Munageh continued, "In the first round we will have Chef Éclair versus Chef Zaus!" The girl screamed, "CHEF ZAUS!" She thought about the doubt in her mind for a moment and stopped before she spoke them. "No more uncertainty! I think I do have a chance. The odds have been stacked against me this entire tournament, but I'm not gonna let this stop me. Somehow I've managed to pull through each time." She stretched out her arms and smirked, "I've got the greatest people in the world here to cheer me on and I will not disappoint."