Chapter 10 - Exam Wars
The school bell rings, signalling the end of morning registration. Sanji now has five minutes to make it across to the other side of the building before the next bell rings for the first lesson of the day. For Sanji, however, he will not be attending his classes as today is his all-important final practical exam for food technology. After finally coming up with a fourth dish for his exam, and planning out his table design, as well as preparing step by step instructions for making all four dishes, he is now raring to go. The blond is confident that his exam will go smoothly, but as all good chefs know, there is always the possibility of errors, and he is prepared to take them on.
Both of the food tech classrooms, with fully equipped kitchen stations, are being used to hold the examinations, though only 12 students from both of the classes in his year are taking their exam today, 6 in each room, and today is the last day of the practical exams. Sanji didn't mind having to wait until the last day to take his exam, as it allowed him more time to prepare. He was also allowed to taste test the dishes prepared by the students on the days before, as he is on good terms with the food tech teachers. This was as long as he didn't tell his classmates what the teachers thought of their cooking, as well as the grades they were given for their overall performance. They trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't change his plans and use the other student's dishes or table designs as his own.
Sanji gets into his classroom just as the bell rings, and as usual, he greets his teacher, Jessica Lewis, with his usual charming demeanour.
Jessica is a young, tall, beautiful woman, with medium length blonde hair, and dark green eyes. As most days, her hair is up in a bun, leaving out a few strands of hair which fall neatly shaped around her cheekbones, and today she is wearing a white long sleeved shirt, and black skinny jeans, with a red scarf and matching red boots.
"Good morning Sanji. I hope you're ready for your exam. And just so you know, I won't be going easy on you because you're one of my top students. Your presentation and cooking skills will be assessed in the same way as everybody else's.
"Of course Mrs. Lewis~," the cook swoons.
His teacher smiles, and then goes to talk to a few of the other students who are taking their exam today, before heading next door to check in with the other food tech teacher.
"I've been looking for you, Sanji…"
"Hm?"
The blond turns around to see a girl in school uniform, around his age, standing at one of the doorways to the classroom (the food tech classrooms have two entrances on the same side of the room, one on each end). She has short, fiery pink hair, and pink eyes.
"... for ten years," the girl says, then tap dances towards Sanji, finishing her entrance off with a spin.
"Her name is Carmen."
"The greatest cook in our year."
Two boys step out from behind Carmen, one with blond hair, and one with brown.
"They call me the Woman of Passion, The Burning Carmen."
The blond boy with Carmen introduces himself as Leo, and the other boy as Jose. They claim to be Carmen's first and second disciples, though to Sanji they seem to be more like her fan club than anything else, and to be honest, he wouldn't mind joining it for Carmen alone.
"Ah, what beauty~," Sanji swoons, "for a gorgeous chef such as yourself to be searching for me~. Ah~ I'm in heaven~. I am honoured to make your acquaintance, Carmen~."
The blond's eyes turn to hearts as he goes to place a kiss to the girl's hand, making Leo angry.
"Don't you dare!" Carmen shouts, as she grabs a frying pan from a table behind her and whacks Sanji over the head with it, causing a few of the other students' attention their way, though Sanji is unfazed from the hit.
"Such burning passion~. B-But Carmen, have I met you before?"
"Jose, Leo, explain!"
Carmen's two disciples stand between her and Sanji as they explain, taking it in turns to speak, Leo starting them off.
"As we said before, Carmen is the best the cook in our year."
"She is in the same year as you, but was placed in the second half of the year throughout, until the numbers dwindled down in sixth form."
"So because of that it is highly plausible that you two never crossed paths, until now."
"And it is also because of that, we'd never heard of you before sixth form."
"Though Carmen is still the best cook in our year, crushing the other cooking students in their exams and practical lessons."
"That is correct," Carmen grins as she steps back in front of the boys, pushing them aside, "all of the students who faced me in my classes, each and every one was a worthless coward. I had begun to believe that I had no equal at all within this school. That was until we entered sixth form and I heard some other students gossiping about how happy they were to be in the same food tech class as you, as they could now get to taste your amazing cooking. They even said that you're the best in our year. Losing that title to someone I'd never heard of before… It was absurd. After that, I set out to find you. I searched every corner of this school for ten whole years!"
"Actually, it was only 10 days," Jose corrects, before Leo adds, "Carmen likes to exaggerate sometimes."
"Shut up you two!"
Carmen hits the boys with the same frying pan she hit Sanji with, in retaliation, before turning back to the cook.
"Face me, Sanji! During this exam, we will see today who the best cook is in our year. I will skilfully defeat here! Prepare yourself!"
Carmen laughs loudly just as Mrs. Lewis makes her way back into the room.
"So, everyone is finally here. Pick a station so I can talk to you all before we start. And hurry up, I don't like time wasters. And you two!" Jessica says, pointing to Leo and Jose, "you are not supposed to be here, so get out and go to your class!"
The boys scurry out of the classroom, slamming the door behind them. Carmen winks at Sanji before picking her station, making him swoon, and the blond gets left with one of the last stations at the front, though he doesn't mind as his beautiful teacher Jessica is standing right next to him as she makes her way to the middle of the first two stations to address the class once more.
"Right, now that the pests are out of the way, I will explain the exam conditions one more time. You have five hours to make three or four courses of your choice, with optional side dishes, though they are not required. You will have your allotted break halfway through, during this time you must not be in this classroom, and you are not allowed to continue cooking. If you do, you will be marked down. Your lunch will be later than the other students today, and it will be after the exam. You are then to come back here afterwards. During your 5 hours you will also need to completely clean your work stations, including the equipment you used and they will need to be returned to their place. If your workstation is not spotless afterwards, then you will be marked down. Your four main dishes will need to include at least one dessert. You will then need to display these on one of the tables which are lined up at the back and front of the classroom. This will need to be done before your time is up. I hope that you have all remembered to bring a tablecloth and any decorations that you are going to use. You should also have your step by step guide on how you have planned to make all of your courses, and you will need labels for each dish on the table at the end. The step by step guide must not be fully detailed, and you are not allowed to make one dish at a time, you must multi-task, as this is one of the skills you will be assessed on for this exam. Also, you are not allowed to help someone else out with their cooking. You are allowed to ask me for help if something goes wrong, or if you forget something, but you may be marked down depending on how you handle the situation. Most of the equipment you need is already out at the back of the classroom, if you need anything else then check the storage cupboard at the back. I suggest you claim a table for your presentation first, using your tablecloth, before you make a start. Remember the rules when cooking, and I hope that you have all brought all of the ingredients that you need. Ok, that's it. Your time starts… now."
The other students start scrambling about to get a table, however, Sanji goes straight to getting out his ingredients and equipment. Once that's done, and he's turned on the oven, he starts making his blackcurrant jelly; putting most of the blackcurrants into a pan filled with water, and then adds 100g of caster sugar which he had measured out the night before. It's not long before the water boils, so he then turns the heat down and keeps an eye on it as it cooks for ten minutes. While the jelly cooks, he also starts chopping up some vegetables, and other ingredients for his other dishes. Once the ten minutes are up, Sanji continues following the recipe and it's not long before he's placing the Jelly into the fridge to set. Before he gets back to his workstation, Sanji grabs the tablecloth he is going to use, from his bag, and heads over to one of the unclaimed tables near the front of the class.
"H-Hey! You can't have your table next to mine!"
"Ah~ Carmen~, this must be fate~," Sanji swoons with hearts in his eyes.
The fiery pink haired girl frowns and lays out her cloth on the last remaining table which happens to be next to Sanji's.
"Go move somewhere else!"
"Carmen! Sanji!"
They both flinch at the sound and turn around to be faced with Mrs. Lewis.
"Stop arguing and get on with it. You know I hate time wasters. If you didn't want your displays to be next to each other's then you should have picked a table when I told you to instead of leaving it until now. Get back to your stations or I'll mark you down."
Carmen and Sanji quickly apologise then get back to their cooking. The two of them battle it out during the exam, though it's mainly Carmen showing off her extravagant cooking skills, however, all she's doing is basic cooking skills which she makes out to seem extravagant, and laughing maniacally as she chops and peels her carrots.
At around ten minutes left in the exam, the students are frantically rushing around to clean up their work stations and equipment before the time runs out, while Sanji and Carmen calmly carry out these tasks, and add the finishing touches to their table presentation. Once the exam is finished, and the room is deemed clean enough, Jessica sends them off quietly for lunch. Carmen and Sanji leave, only to sneak back in together to peek through the classroom door while Jessica and several other teachers who are free, taste test and evaluate the students' practical work. The teachers joining Jessica are: an art teacher who specialises in wax work, called Mr. Three, Mr. Caesar Clown who teaches chemistry, Sanji's history teacher and friend, Ms Nico, Luffy's drama teacher Mr. Hadena Buggy (the students mainly call him Buggy the Clown), Usopp's wood tech teacher (who's also their friend), Mr. Cutty Flam, but everyone calls him Franky, and Jessica's husband Jonathan Lewis, who is a PE teacher.
"Shurorororo! The students have done well today. Better than I expected from the last bunch to be taking their exam."
"Caesar's right. These are very flashy presentations too."
Carmen and Sanji watch quietly as the teachers go from table to table, Jessica taking pictures of each one before they taste the dishes. Robin notices them at the doorway and winks at them, causing the cook to swoon, but thankfully she doesn't inform the others that they have uninvited guests.
Eventually, the teachers make their way to the front of the classroom, and Sanji and Carmen quickly head over to the doorway at the other end of the room to get a closer look at the reactions to their tables.
"Ah, Carmen's table is beautifully presented, don't you agree, Ms. Nico?" asks Jessica.
"I do indeed. I think I'll have a taste of the chocolate pudding first."
Carmen grins smugly at Sanji as the teachers compliment her table presentation and courses. On her table she has laid her dishes out on white crockery which are spread out on a red tablecloth with a pink hearts design. The theme for her presentation is love, and so she has set out two candles in the middle of the table, with a red 3D heart which Leo had made out of paper for her, which has been placed between the candles. She has also scattered red rose petals around the dishes for decoration. The dishes that Carmen has made are: mushroom soup garnished with parsley and served in a white bowl, boiled crab which is still in his shell and accompanied with vegetables on a white plate with a cucumber mignonette for dipping. For dessert: chocolate pudding served in a glass and topped with pieces of bananas and cherries with cream and chocolate sauce, and the final dessert which is heart shaped shortbread biscuits with whipped cream and strawberry sauce, and is placed in a white bowl.
"The crab dish is good. Apart from the broccoli….," Jonathan comments.
Jessica rolls her eyes at her husband, "that's only because you hate broccoli, and any kind of vegetable….that aside for you, it is an excellent dish."
"Carmen's food is super~ delicious. Definitely the best I've tasted here today."
Robin smiles as she gently places her hand on Franky's forearm to get his attention, "we still have one more table to see."
"Ah yes, Sanji-bro's food is always super~," the wood tech teacher replies, smiling back down at Robin.
The teachers talk amongst themselves, as Jessica scribbles down some notes in her notepad, before turning their attention to the last table.
Sanji's table presentation is inspired by his love for the ocean, and so the tablecloth and decorations are different shades of blue, including the crockery which is a darker colour to the rest of the display. The first dish the teachers try is Sanji's seafood pasta. This is followed by the grilled tuna with tomato spaghetti. For dessert, is the blackcurrant jelly which in a glass bowl and has been set into the shape of a jellyfish, topped with a little whipped cream and the leftover blackcurrants.
The last dish is the star of the table, Sanji's kiwi and passion fruit meringue Pavlova. Robin chuckles as she notices the tag with the dish's name, and she whispers something to Franky. Sanji blushes as he watches this exchange. Maybe he shouldn't have named his last dessert, Marimo Pavlova.
The Pavlova has three tiers to it, with meringue layers, as well as lime curd. The top has neatly and delicately placed pieces of kiwi, and passion fruit which has been cut into stars to resemble starfish. There are also small mini meringues which have been used to decorate around the Pavlova, and these are to resemble marimo.
"Wow, this looks amazing," Jessica comments as she admires the Marimo Pavlova.
The other teachers nod and mumble in agreement before setting out to have another taste of the dishes that Sanji has prepared.
"Mm, this is definitely the best food I've tasted today."
Mrs. Lewis nods in agreement as she tastes another bite from the seafood pasta, "It is. But not just from today, Sanji's end results for his exam are the best this year. No, the best we've had in this school for a few years now."
Sanji's eyes widen when his mobile goes off with an incoming call. He and Carmen quickly move away from the doorway as he rejects the call, before sprinting outside. Shit, I forgot to turn my phone on silent when I turned it on after the exam!
"Oi, who's out there?!"
"Don't worry about it Mr. Lewis. It's probably just some students who are out on an errand for their teacher. It is the last lesson of the day after all. And the students who had their cooking exam are already in the cafeteria having their late lunch," Robin smiles as she draws the teachers' attention away from checking out the hallway.
Outside in the schoolyard, Sanji and Carmen finally come to stop. He had followed the other out to her meeting point with Leo and Jose.
"Hey Carmen, did you win?" Leo asks.
Carmen's whole body shakes and she clenches her fists at her sides. Sanji can't tell whether she's shaking with anger or if she is about to cry as she stays silent, so Sanji answers for her.
"Ah, uh… well there weren't really any winners with this exam but, they said my food was the best in the year... or something..."
"Unforgivable. I can never forgive you!" Carmen finally voices, "I've wanted to have a match with you for so long. That's why I worked desperately to get better. I wanted to share the same title as you. I didn't just hear of you 10 days ago…. That was when I'd only found out that you were in this school…. The first time I saw you was ten years ago. I can't remember who took me there, but when I was at the Baratie, I sneaked over to the kitchen door to listen inside. And that was when I saw you. You were talking about your dream to the other chefs. It was clear to me during the exam that since that day, your dream has never changed….. I thought I could defeat that. I can't forgive myself for being so arrogant…! I've lost. Your cooking was delicious. The greatest cook in our year, probably even the whole school, is you."
Sanji grins and swoons, "Aww~ for Carmen to say something so kind, now I'm truly in heaven~!"
Carmen smiles and steps aside when Sanji tries to hug her, "I'll concede for today, but you had better be prepared for our next match. I won't lose again."
"If it's a challenge from you Carmen, I'll take it any day."
Carmen, Leo, and Jose all leave for the cafeteria while Sanji checks his phone. His notifications tell him that he's got 33 messages and 20 missed calls, mainly from Luffy, and some from Nami and Usopp. The last missed call was from Luffy, who left a voice message for him. Unlocking his phone, he then dials the number for voicemail and follows the service instructions until he hears Luffy's voice.
Oi, Sanji! It's really bad! Zoro's at the hospital! You need to get here now and-!"
"Luffy, give me that! He can't just drop his exam for this! Quick, hand me the phone, before the time runs out…!"
Sanji's eyes widen and he anxiously waits to hear his precious Nami's voice.
"... Sanji, it's me. We've just got to the local hospital. Zoro is in a really bad way. Before the tournament this morning, he saw Mihawk so the idiot got him to duel with him… He's lost a lot of blood Sanji… Zoro's going to be fine, though he still hasn't woken up… But don't run out from your exam. The rest of us are here, just…"
The message cuts off as they must have run out of time. Panicking, Sanji quickly checks his messages. They all pretty much say the same thing, Zoro's fight with Mihawk… he's lost a lot of blood… he's been taken to the hospital…, and then the last one says that Zoro got transferred to the hospital in their home city after the important surgery was over.
After scanning the texts, Sanji quickly pockets his phone before rushing off to the hospital. That damn bastard's out of his mind! His enemy was the world's strongest! The results obvious! If it's going to mean your death, then just throw your damn ambition away!
A/N - For those of you who may not remember/not know, in the anime, Carmen is the woman, along with her disciples Leo and Jose, who challenged Sanji to a cooking competition at Loguetown during a filler arc.
Jessica is the head chef at a marine base during the G-8 filler arc, and Jonathan is Jessica's husband. He is a vice admiral at the same marine base during this arc. However, Lewis isn't their last name. It is a name I gave them as they do not have a last name in the anime.
One more thing, I have also given Buggy the first name Hadena. He does not have this name in the manga or the anime. Hadena, according to google translate, means flashy. ^.^