Over the next couple of days, things went relatively smoothly for Daniel, Soma, and the rest of the group from Polar Star. While the challenges remained difficult, they were nothing compared to having to battle against chef Shinomiya. Soon enough, it was the evening of the fourth day of training camp, and the gang was looking forward to another good night's rest when Ryoko noticed that the schedule didn't have a lights out time like normal. As they were all wondering what was up, they heard chef Dojima's voice over the loudspeaker, telling all the students to be dressed and in the main lobby conference room at 10:00 PM.
As the meeting time came and they all gathered in the conference room, they couldn't help but notice that the numbers had thinned out a bit over the last few days, as students failed their challenges and were sent back to Totsuki to be expelled. As they were standing around, both Takumi Aldini and Ikumi Mito came angrily up to Soma telling him what "an unbelievable idiot" he was for taking on chef Shinomiya in a food war. "How did you know about that?" Soma asked. "Everyone knows about that," Takumi and Ikumi said simultaneously. They then widened their eyes as they realized that Soma was still there, meaning…"Does that mean you won?" Takumi asked. As Soma shook his head, they seemed confused before Daniel interjected. "Don't be so hard on him," he said. "It was for a good reason."
As Takumi and Ikumi began to ask Daniel what he meant, chef Dojima got everyone's attention on the main stage of the room. He then addressed the young chefs with the challenge that they were being presented with, explaining that breakfast was an important part of the Totsuki Resort's operations. To that end, Dojima explained, the students would be tasked with making egg-based breakfast dishes, to be served buffet-style for several hundred people. In addition, they would be expected to be ready to serve their dishes by 6:00 AM the next morning, much to the despair of many there – including Yuki and Zenji, who screamed that they were trying to kill them.
'Oh, this is gonna be rough,' Daniel thought to himself. 'I'll need to get myself ready for an all-nighter.' As he began to race back to his room, he shouted to Soma, "Can you go ahead set aside some eggs for me? I need to get a couple of things real quick before I go to the kitchen!" Soma nodded and Daniel raced away from everyone else. When he got to the kitchen a short time later, he found Soma and saw that he had indeed set aside some eggs for him (as well as getting enough for himself). He smiled a 'thank you' to Soma as he took out the three things he gathered to get him through the night – a supply of yuzu lemonade and ice water, and his iPod, which contained hours of songs by his favorite musician, Bruce Springsteen (guaranteed to keep the adrenaline going).
As he got himself set up, Daniel began to consider what kind of dish he would attempt to make. A lot of the breakfast dishes he could think of that had eggs as the featured ingredient were either too complicated for this format, or seemingly too simple for a Totsuki challenge. He then began to think about what he would want to eat if he ever saw it on a menu, and he was finally able to come up with something worthy of this challenge that he could pull off. It would take about all of his time until the next morning, but he felt he could do it. He then looked around for the other ingredients he would need, finding all of them, including one that he was half-expecting not to be at a place like this.
"Alright. Let's do this!" Daniel said as he started his music and began to get to work on the dish he had come up with. He would be using the eggs in multiple different facets of the dish in an attempt to fulfill the challenge while distinguishing himself from the rest of the students. As he began to work, he tried to lighten the mood by cracking a couple jokes with Soma. "Hey, Soma! How are you feeling? Are you egg-static about this challenge!?" Soma looked at him and grinned. "You know it!" he replied. "In fact, I'm sure my dish is going to be eggs-cellent!"
A/N: (Hears crickets chirping)….I'll see myself out, now.
Some time later, as Daniel was concentrating on a particular part of his dish, he noticed someone come up to his workstation in front of him. When he looked up, he saw a very light-skinned girl with short white hair and red eyes looking at what he was working on. "So, what are you making?" she asked. "Something delicious, I presume?" Daniel grinned as he replied, "You bet! In fact, I think you would find this eggs-quisite!" The girl just grinned back before responding, "My, my – aren't you the funny one. Are you sure you should be acting so casual at a time like this? Especially since it appears you still have a lot to do." Daniel simply stated, "Don't worry about me. I'll be ready in time." The girl then shrugged and walked towards Soma's workstation. Before doing so, she noticed Daniel take out his coin from his chef's coat pocket and place it on the counter as he jotted something down in his black notebook. 'Interesting,' she thought as she turned and walked away. As she did, Daniel noticed a taller, black spiky-haired boy behind her trying to provide a menacing presence. He followed the girl to Soma's station, and after a few minutes of banter there, the pair left the kitchen.
It pretty much took all night, but by the time the students made their way to the banquet halls to set up for the challenge, Daniel had done what he wanted to do. He had been making the various components of his dish all night – which was the long and hard part. Now, all that was left to do was to cook and assemble the dishes at his station. As he got to his assigned station, he was a bit surprised when he saw that Hisako would be at the adjoining station next to him. 'At least I'll have a familiar face beside me,' he thought. As he was setting up his mise-en-place and making the first several batches of his dish, he noticed Hisako setting up her own station with a focused, yet tense, look on her face. Daniel thought this was endearing, and he decided to have a little fun to try to get both of them to relax in order to get through the challenge.
Daniel turned to Hisako and said, "You really have nothing to worry about, you know. Your dish looks really good – and with your level of skill, I'm sure it will turn out quite well." While Hisako still had a serious look on her face, she did sport a slight blush, which was Daniel's cue to continue. "If you want, I can share my fool-proof technique to get rid of any nerves you may have about the challenge." Hisako looked quizzically at Daniel, but slowly nodded, willing at this point to at least humor him a bit. "Great!" Daniel stated as he began to give instructions. "First, take a deep breath and close your eyes." After Hisako did that, Daniel then stated, "Now repeat after me – Owah!" Hisako repeated, "Owah," as she nodded warily. "Tagoo," Daniel said. "Tagoo," Hisako said as well. "Siam," Daniel ended. "Siam," Hisako repeated again. "Now say it all together," Daniel instructed. Hisako nodded as she said, "Owahtagoosiam! (Oh, what a goose I am!)" As soon as she said it, she realized what she had said and angrily shouted, "Hey!" as Daniel was chuckling. He then said, "Hey, it worked. You're not nervous or anxious anymore, are you?" Hisako just rolled her eyes in annoyance, though she couldn't argue with what Daniel said. She sighed before getting back to her dish, though looking just a little less stressed.
The public address announcement system then went on as chef Dojima explained the parameters for passing this challenge. Over the next two hours, not only would their dish have to be approved by a member of the resort staff, but they would also need to serve at least 200 servings of their dish to the multitude of guests about to come through the doors. As the signal to begin was given, the doors burst open and kids began to pour in – there were going to be a lot of families here, so the dishes would have to appeal to a wide audience.
A gentleman and two ladies with Totsuki Resort uniforms then made their way to Daniel's station, where he revealed his dish – a French toast. But not just any French toast, a stuffed and fried French toast! For the bread, he had spent hours baking many loaves of the egg-based challah bread, which were also studded with mini chocolate chips for a little extra decadence, with an orange curd (also made with eggs) serving as the filling as well as an acidic element to cut through the richness of the bread. After slicing the challah into thick slices, he then cut a slit into each slice, leaving them intact, but giving him a place to pipe the curd. After filling the slices as much as possible and soaking them in a thin cinnamon-vanilla egg and milk custard, he coated the slices in crushed Corn Flakes before putting the slices into the friers he had obtained for the challenge. When they were done, he plated the finished golden-brown French toast on a plate, making sure to get rid of the excess oil and topping them with a bit of powdered sugar before putting them out for service.
As just about everyone else had done a savory dish, Daniel's sweet dish was a nice change of pace, and the bread was so eggy and soft, with the tangy orange curd going nicely together with the bread studded with the chocolate, and the crunch of the outer layer providing a variety of textures. The gentleman, who also happened to be chef Dojima's sous chef, Hiromi Sena, loved it, as did the two ladies assisting him, and they all gave their approval! Soon, word of Daniel's French toast got around amongst the children, and pretty soon they were all coming to his station for some, as well as a number of the parents. As he glanced over at Hisako's station, he was glad to see that her dish was being well-received as well. Meanwhile, Hisako was secretly glancing over at Daniel's station from time to time, and she had to admit that Daniel had come up with a unique, and apparently delicious, approach to the challenge. Even if she wouldn't admit it openly just yet, her respect for him had grown tremendously during the last few days.
After a little more than an hour of seemingly nonstop cooking, prepping, and serving, Daniel heard his name over the PA system announcing that he had hit the 200-plate mark, meaning he had passed the challenge. Minutes later, Hisako's name was broadcast over the system as she, too, had passed! As they gave each other a nod in recognition (Daniel's nod coming with a grin), Daniel began to wonder about how Soma and Megumi were doing, as he was in the exhibition hall next door. Shortly after, Daniel ran out of challah bread to make more French toast and was given permission to finish early once he had cleaned his station. He then ran next door to check up on Soma and Megumi, who was also stationed next door.
When he arrived, Megumi was doing well, having reached the 200 serving mark. To his surprise and horror, however, Soma was in deep trouble! He had only served about 10 servings so far! As he wondered why, Daniel saw that the souffle omelets that Soma had put out were now collapsed and looked unappetizing, having not been scooped up and eaten right away. Worse – he was stationed next to Erina Nakiri, who was blowing away the field with her version of eggs benedict. As Megumi began to openly worry about whether Soma could possibly pass the challenge at this point, Daniel could see Soma lean on his counter with his eyes closed in concentration. He then turned to Megumi and said, "He can do this – we just have to have faith in him."
What they saw next would go down in the annals of the history of Totsuki's first-year training camp, as Soma put on a cooking show like few had ever seen. He started by getting one child to come watch him cook one of his omelets and taste it. As she marveled at how light and fluffy it was, more people came to see and taste, including several members of the resort staff, who marveled at what Soma had been able to create. As the last half-hour of the challenge ticked away, Soma seemed to move faster and faster, willing himself to serve enough people to pass the challenge. Finally, with just a couple seconds to spare, Soma's name was called out as having served 200 plates!
Sighing in relief, Daniel and Megumi ran up to Soma to congratulate him on getting through. "That was a close one, wasn't it?" Soma exclaimed. As Megumi and Daniel began to chuckle at Soma stating the obvious, the white-haired girl and her spiky-haired male friend from the night before came up to them, with the girl stating that she was impressed that Soma was able to recover like that, even if she thought his showmanship tactics were out-of-date. She then introduced herself as Alice Nakiri, Erina's cousin and a fellow first-year student. Next, she introduced her male friend behind her as Ryo Kurokiba, her aide, like Hisako was for Erina.
As both Alice and Erina (in their own different ways) commented on how Soma's mistakes had nearly gotten him expelled, Soma grinned and said, "Yeah, I really screwed up there. But hey, I gained the experience you can only get by messing up." As he said this, Daniel looked at Soma with an impressed look. It didn't happen too often, but there were times when Soma could be insightful and downright profound. However, he could see that neither Alice nor Erina agreed with his opinion. Chef Dojima then made an announcement over the PA system that those who passed had four hours to rest before the next session.
As everyone groaned, Soma began to chuckle and said, "I like training camp – it's fun!" Daniel laughed nervously as he thought, 'Aaand, he's back.' Although he knew Soma always seemed to have energy to spare, he wondered how Soma still had so much after that all-night challenge. Unlike Soma, Daniel decided to take advantage of the respite, as he had been up all night and the adrenaline from the challenge was beginning to die down – in short, he was exhausted!
After getting a couple of hours of sleep, Daniel felt rested enough to tackle the remainder of the day, which he was able to do successfully. That evening before dinner, the remaining students were told to gather together once again in the main lobby conference room. As they waited around, the tension could be cut with a knife as everyone there wondered what the instructors had in store for them now, worried that they would be asked to do another all-nighter or another challenge like the 50-meal set challenge from the first night.
As chef Dojima began to address them, he mentioned the work they had all put in so far, and reminded them about their fellow classmates who had fallen by the wayside during the week. He then told them to prepare for their final challenge. As the students braced themselves for the worst, they were pleasantly surprised to see and hear that their last challenge would be to enjoy a gourmet congratulatory meal cooked by all the instructors to celebrate a job well done! Most of the students either cheered in celebration or broke down crying in relief and happiness that they had been able to conquer the training camp from hell.
Now, all of their efforts would bear some fruit. No one else in the world would be eating as well at this moment as they were! As Daniel and Soma looked around the table they were seated at, seeing the looks on their friends' faces as they ate probably the best meal of their lives, Soma turned to Daniel and said, "I'm glad we came to Totsuki." Daniel smiled back and replied, "You and me both, Soma. You and me both."
We've now reached the end of the training camp arc! I hope you all enjoyed my sense of humor in this chapter :) I also hope you're enjoying the pace this is going at. As usual, comments and constructive criticism are all welcome – flames are not.