As Daniel reached the room where Soma and Megumi had been assigned, he was a bit surprised to find chef Dojima, standing quietly just outside the room out of sight. Getting permission with a warning to stay quiet, Daniel took a peek inside and found to his dismay that it was chef Kojiro Shinomiya who was in charge of this group. He groaned internally, figuring this was the absolute worst person they could end up with, especially for Megumi. He reached into his pocket, took a hold of his coin, and prayed that his friends would make it through.

Soma was one of the first students to present the assigned dish – a nine vegetable terrine. Even though Daniel was confident that Soma would pass, it was still a tense moment. Chef Kojiro only gave a "hmmm," as he visually inspected the dish. He then took a taste of it, to which he merely said, "You pass." Daniel sighed in relief, as did Soma, as the two of them waited (in different places) for Megumi to finish her version of the dish and present it.

When she was finished plating, Megumi took her dish up to Chef Kojiro, who pointed out that she was one of the last ones to present. As Chef Sinomiya took a taste of the dish, he then addressed Megumi in an almost maniacal manner. "Megumi Tadokoro. You failed – you're done." At this, Daniel felt like he had been punched in the gut and started to slide slowly down against the wall he was leaning on, not happy that their trio was about to be down to two.

Daniel then heard Megumi ask the chef why it had failed, who then explained that it was because she had used white wine vinegar to offset the oxidation of the cauliflower, which accentuated the taste and elevated it. Megumi then asked confused, "So why…?" to which chef Kojiro replied, "Who said you could alter the recette? The dish is supposed to evenly emphasize all of the vegetables. You made a completely different dish." Daniel was quite ticked after hearing this so-called explanation. 'What a jackass!' he thought. 'It tasted terrific, but he still failed her because it wasn't 100% according to his recipe? That's so petty!'

Daniel then heard Soma try to argue that Megumi should be commended for finding a way to fix the bad cauliflower she had been stuck with given the time constraints, and that it should be considered the chef's fault for not providing enough good produce. Chef Kojiro got pissed at Soma and went on to tell the whole class that he had intentionally not provided enough good cauliflower for everyone in the class in order to weed out the "dimwits" who either didn't recognize good produce or didn't act quickly enough to secure it. Now Daniel was absolutely livid inside. It was one thing to administer a difficult exam, but to make it to ensure that people failed!? That did not sit well at all with him!

Daniel had half a mind to burst into the classroom right there and call out the chef on his crap – and to hell with the consequences – when he saw Soma get a look in his eyes that said he was about to do something drastic. The next moment, Soma addressed chef Kojiro and challenged him to a food war in an effort to get Megumi's expulsion rescinded. The entire class gasped in absolute shock that he would be crazy enough to challenge an alumnus to a food war – and someone at chef Kojiro's caliber at that. Kojiro tried to brush off Soma and completely ignore the request, but chef Dojima then decided to make his presence known – as well as chef Inui, who had been standing in the shadows unbeknownst to Daniel. As Dojima told Soma, Megumi, as well as Hinako and Kojiro to come with him, they passed by a still-concerned Daniel who was still standing outside the room, waiting to see how things would develop. Chef Dojima then indicated to Daniel that he should follow as well.

Once the six of them had gathered in chef Dojima's office, chef Inui took a taste of the vegetable terrine Megumi had made. She found it absolutely delicious and began yelling at Kojiro for failing Megumi. He responded by bonking her on the head. When Dojima asked Kojiro whether Megumi's determination and perseverance should be given at least some consideration, he said, "No. Not in the least." When Hinako objected again, Dojima pondered casually about there being "quite a predicament" before Kojiro pointed out that chef Dojima had given him wide authority regarding designing the test.

Daniel then spoke up. "With all due respect, chef Dojima," he began, "I think chef Shinomiya here abused even the wide latitude of authority you gave him for this test." Chef Dojima turned to Daniel and asked, "Oh? How do you figure?" As everyone else in the room looked at Daniel in surprised confusion, he began, "I'll admit, I've only been here a short time, but I've caught on to a couple of important points on how things work at Totsuki." He then held up his fingers when delivering his points. "First, the tests here at Totsuki are extremely hard – sometimes ridiculously so. Second, however, is that as hard as the tests can be, they're always at least inherently fair – it's at least theoretically possible for everyone to pass, even if it almost never actually happens." Chef Dojima nodded and motioned for Daniel to continue. "However," Daniel said, "Chef Sinomiya made it completely impossible, even theoretically, for everyone to pass. In other words, he made his exam inherently unfair. And I'm sure that's not what you had in mind when you provided such wide authority to the instructors." Most everyone there stood stunned that Daniel would have the guts to say such a thing, except for Kojiro, who was visibly fuming at Daniel's audacity.

"That may be true," chef Dojima responded, "But I did give that authority. Besides, shouldn't students here learn how to deal with chefs like Kojiro here so that they will be better prepared for the real world where there are chefs like him?" Daniel thought for a moment before responding, "Then how about this? You said that we were to be treated as employees, correct?" Both chef Dojima and chef Inui nodded before Daniel continued, "Then what kind of employer would intentionally set up his employees to fail!? I don't think anyone would want to work for someone like that, no matter what level they're at!" Dojima pondered this as the tension in the room became even thicker.

"Here's what I propose," chef Dojima began. "After this afternoon's sessions, we'll hold the battle in the hotel annex. If Soma and Megumi win, they'll both stay as students. If they lose, both of them will be expelled." Kojiro then began to object. "Wait a minute, why do I have to agree to this?" he demanded. Dojima then turned towards him and gave him a look before saying, "Because I told you to, Kojiro." Based on the look Dojima gave, Kojiro knew he didn't have a choice but to accept. "Fine," he said, "It's just delaying the inevitable, anyway."

Daniel then interjected. "You can count me in, as well," he declared. At this, everyone looked at him in total shock, like he was completely crazy. "Are you sure?" Dojima asked. "You didn't issue the challenge, nor were you even in their group this morning. Remember, you could end up being expelled as well." Daniel nodded and stated, "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm standing by my friends." He then pointed to chef Kojiro as he continued, "Besides, I can't just stay silent on the sidelines after seeing him pull a mean-spirited stunt like that!" Dojima nodded and stated, "Very well. The three of you will meet us at the annex this evening. In the meantime, you should get to your scheduled afternoon sessions."

As Soma, Daniel, and Megumi were walking down the hotel hallway, Soma commented, "I gotta say, I'm impressed, Daniel. You really gave chef Shinomiya a mouthful in there – that took guts!" As Daniel was trying to brush it off slightly embarrassingly as nothing, Megumi suddenly screamed with an outburst that really surprised the other two, "You idiots!" As they turned towards Megumi, she then slumped to her knees on the floor and began to sob.

As they reached her, Megumi then continued her rant, "You guys should have just let me fail on my own! You were free and clear – I'm just holding you back! Now you both could end up getting expelled because of me! Why would you do that!?" As she continued to sob, Soma and Daniel tried to console her, as Soma stated jokingly, "Megumi, we couldn't let you fail on your own. You would even mess that up." Daniel then punched Soma in the shoulder in admonishment as even Megumi seemed miffed at that. Soma then continued by saying, "Besides, it wasn't your time to go. Your journey…shouldn't end like this."

Daniel grinned and added, "He's right. You didn't deserve to get expelled. What Chef Kojiro did was wrong, and we have to stand up and make sure he knows it!" As he got up, he then said, "Besides, if I had done nothing, and the two of you got expelled while I remained, I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror in the mornings." Daniel and Soma then each reached an arm out for Megumi to grab and helped her up off the floor. "Come on," Daniel stated, "Let's get to our afternoon sessions before we're late."

That evening, after the other students had gone back to their rooms for the evening, Soma, Daniel, and Megumi made their way to the resort's kitchen annex – in a basement to boot, so nobody else would interfere – where they met not only chefs Dojima, Shinomiya, and Hinako (who was there officially just as an 'observer'), but also chef Donato Gotoda – the blonde, male chef who had flirted with Megumi at the opening – as well as chefs Sekimori and Mizuhara, the last three of whom would be serving as judges for the upcoming battle. Chef Mizuhara was surprised to see Daniel there, in addition to Soma and Megumi. "Mr. Horowitz?" she began, "What are you doing here? You were in my session this morning and I passed you." Daniel responded, "I know – but let's just say lady justice was screaming my name here, and I couldn't ignore it." Although she didn't get the specific reference, chef Mizuhara seemed to get the gist as she nodded.

Chef Dojima then laid out the rules for the secret food war. He not only laid out the conditions and what was at stake, as had been agreed upon earlier, but also instructed them that they had to feature some combination of the leftover vegetables they had been able to gather from that day's sessions. As Dojima was explaining things (most of which he had gone over earlier), Daniel could hear the chefs serving as judges talking amongst themselves, specifically about how chef Chapelle would react if he found out they were doing a food war like this in secret. He then heard chef Mizuhara comment, "I would run like hell and blame it on Kojiro." Daniel couldn't help but chuckle, even as chef Kojiro responded, "I can hear you."

Dojima then got everyone's attention when he finished by inserting an additional condition for the food war. "Chef Megumi, you will serve as the head chef for this battle. You will be the one responsible for conceiving of, and directing your sous chefs in creating your dish." This left Megumi frozen in terror, as her stage fright was heightened even more so than usual, while Soma tried to argue with chef Dojima about the condition. Dojima then sternly explained that Megumi had to prove that she deserved to stay. "If she were to stay based on your efforts, then what would she gain going forward? She would only be fated to be washed out at a later point." As much as Daniel wanted to argue he was wrong, he had to admit that Dojima probably had a reasonable point. Megumi, meanwhile, just stood there shaking, unsure of what she should do.