Over the next couple of weeks, as things slowed down a bit at school in the immediate aftermath of the training camp from hell, Daniel put in some extra time at the Chocolate Research Society in order to try to catch up to some of the other members. After all, he had only been attending the academy for a few months, unlike the others who were at the high school level, who had been there since the beginning of middle school. His efforts didn't go unnoticed, as the society chief praised him for his dedication, as well as the creativity he brought to the club with his flavor combinations.
Daniel also was sure to make the time to enjoy himself when he could, as he joined the girls for a day in the food and cooking district of Tokyo, where they unexpectedly met up with the Aldini brothers. After that, they made their way to a locally owned monjayaki shop where they had an…interesting encounter with one of the regulars. It got to the point where the Aldini brothers challenged him to a cookoff. Although the challenge didn't end in an official winner, the unique cultural exchange gave everyone something to think about. During the outing, Daniel also took the opportunity to get to know the brothers better as friends. They seemed amenable to his overtures, though Takumi asked mostly about his friendship with Soma. Although Daniel didn't mind answering his questions about how he became friends with Soma and how he came to apply to Totsuki, he did think in the back of his mind, 'He really has a one-tracked mind about Soma, doesn't he?'
Shortly after, the entire first year class was called to the main quad, where the big reveal would take place as to who got chosen for the annual Autumn Elections, one of the biggest yearly events at Totsuki which pitted the best first-year students against each other in a cooking competition. Those who were selected for the competition were chosen based not only on their academic performance so far during the school year, but also on how they had been evaluated during the training camp, as well as several other factors. Getting chosen for this competition was considered an honor and a necessary first step to eventually having a chance at being chosen for the Council of Ten.
To Daniel's mild surprise, he was, in fact, chosen for this competition, which gave him a sense of satisfaction at seeing his hard work pay off. This competition divided the 60 chosen students into two blocks of 30 students each. Daniel was placed in Block A, along with Soma, Ryoko, Shun, Zenji, Ikumi, and Ryo (as far as the people he actually knew). Block B included Megumi, Yuki, the Aldini brothers, Alice, and Hisako. One thing that really surprised Daniel was the fact that Erina wasn't on the list, as she was supposed to be some sort of chef prodigy. However, this was explained by Alice, who told them that as a member of the Ten, Erina was on the administrative side of things for this competition and wasn't eligible to compete.
As he and Soma were talking excitedly to Alice, Ryo, and several of their other friends, Daniel noticed Megumi getting talked to by another girl who was relatively tall, with shortish purple hair. What he noticed, however, was that this girl was standing over Megumi in what appeared to be a somewhat intimidating manner. He couldn't make out what they were saying to each other, but Megumi looked nervous talking to her, and the other girl soon ended the conversation, walking off with an angry look on her face.
As the girl walked away, Daniel went towards Megumi, who looked a bit down from the conversation. "What was that about?" Daniel asked. Megumi then looked up suddenly as though she had just realized Daniel was there and replied, "Nothing…nothing you need to worry about. I promise," as she waived her hands in a nervous manner. Daniel shrugged and decided to let it go for the time being, but not before he said, "Just remember, you have a lot of people you can come to for help if you need it."
As Megumi nodded at Daniel's last statement, Urara got everyone's attention, as she relayed a message from Etsuya Eizan to all of the contestants, who stated that while this was an opportunity for them to achieve personal glory and honor, failure to produce a good dish would definitely not be looked well upon. They were advised to spend as much time as possible researching, crafting, and testing their dishes for the competition.
A few days later, a notice from the Selection Committee arrived at the Polar Star dormitory, with everyone who had been selected eagerly anticipating its arrival, since it would reveal to them the theme for the opening round of competition – the theme upon which everyone's dishes would be based. As Yuki opened the envelope, there was a bit of surprise and confusion as the theme was revealed to be Curry Cuisine. "So, does that mean we can make just any old curry and rice?" Ryoko asked. "That will be up to you," Isshiki responded. As a member of the Selection Committee and the Council of Ten, Isshiki would not be able to help his juniors in any way, including telling them what kind of dish would be expected of them. Despite this, Daniel had a feeling that it would take more than a simple curry and rice dish to succeed in this competition.
The next day, Soma invited Daniel and Megumi to join him in seeking out knowledge on curry from someone whom he claimed his father had suggested to him – a former Polar Star dorm mate from his school days named Shiomi who was always tinkering with spices and was now Totsuki's resident expert. They eventually arrived at a somewhat run down building that didn't look particularly hospitable, though they went in anyway. They eventually made their way to a room where there were papers and other items strewn all over the place, and a young, short woman with glasses was on the floor grinding spices with a mortar and pestle.
As the trio got her attention, and she and Megumi went through a brief cycle of apologies to each other, Soma interjected saying, "Hi there! I'm looking for someone named Shiomi. My father, Joichiro Saiba, said I could get some help…" before his face was suddenly and unexpectedly met by the right hook of the short bespectacled woman. As her punch sent Soma across the room temporarily unconscious, she growled as she said, "Joichiro Saiba! I want nothing to do with him or his offspring! Get out!" Megumi tried to explain that Soma was unconscious and couldn't move, the woman, who had identified herself as Professor Jun Shiomi, continued to growl, "That's too bad! I won't do anything to help Joichiro Saiba's son!" Daniel, still stunned, could only think, 'Dayum – she's got a mean right hook!'
As Megumi tried to revive Soma, Daniel asked, "What did Joichiro do to you?" As she began to explain how he continually 'tortured' her, Daniel figured out exactly what Joichiro had done and sighed internally. As Soma began to stir, Daniel tried to get Professor Shiomi to agree to a truce. "Look, professor, I realize that what Joichiro did to you was pretty terrible, but is that any reason to take out your anger at him on his son? Besides, Soma hasn't done anything to you – he shouldn't be punished for the sins of his father. That doesn't seem fair, does it?"
As the professor was taking in what Daniel said, Megumi, who had overheard the conversation, sweat dropped as she thought to herself, 'I can't believe he actually said that with a straight face.' Daniel, meanwhile, was trying to keep a calm look as he thought to himself, 'I can't believe I was able to say that with a straight face.' Professor Shiomi, however, appeared to buy it, as she looked down in remorse and said, "You're right," in a meek manner, before turning to Soma to apologize for the punch.
At that moment, another person came in wondering what all the commotion was about. He was relatively tall with silver hair and a complexion that suggested he was of Indian descent. He introduced himself as Akira Hayama, a fellow first year student, and Professor Shiomi's assistant at the Shiomi seminar. This surprised the guest trio, as their understanding was that you needed to be an upperclassman to be a part of a seminar like this, which meant that his knowledge of spices had to be very advanced. As Professor Shiomi began to explain the scientific theories and processes of how spices worked, Akira immediately motioned them to come with him, as she could be at this for a while and was generally over most students' heads.
Akira then proceeded to show some of the spices they were growing, and give a practical demonstration of how spices could be used in dishes – particularly curry dishes, which were a specialty of his due to what he explained was an enhanced sense of smell. Based on what Soma, Daniel, and Megumi observed and tasted from Akira's demonstration, 'enhanced' would be an understatement. His sense of smell could be about comparable to Erina's god tongue from everything Daniel had seen and heard! Akira proceeded to make three different curry dishes for them like it was nothing – each with distinct levels of flavor despite having similar (and sometimes nearly identical) ingredients. He demonstrated how just one or two subtle changes to treating the spices could change the entire profile of a dish.
Akira seemed like a decent enough person, though Daniel could tell that he was also really confident in his skills – particularly when it came to the challenge presented for the Autumn Elections. He even revealed that he would be competing in A Block with Soma and Daniel. While Daniel was a bit concerned at the level of competition he and his friend were about to face, Soma got that grin he got when he was about to dive headfirst into something and not stop until he had perfected it (or come as close as possible). Akira was shocked at Soma's reaction, as he had come to the seminar knowing next to nothing about spices, yet was stating that he would be able to match Akira, nonetheless.
As Daniel walked back to the dorm with Soma and Megumi, continuing throughout the evening, he pondered everything he had learned from Akira that day, as well as the overall theme for the competition. Spice and curry dishes were not his greatest area of expertise, although there was certainly time enough to learn about such things and conceive of a dish for the competition. His mind then went back to what he had thought before, when Ryoko asked about what kind of dish they were expected to create. He was fairly certain that a regular curry and rice dish (or something similar) would not be enough to cut it for this competition. He would have to be quite a bit more creative here.
This frustrated him, as he was already in quite a hole just figuring out how to make a curry dish to begin with, let alone one that was creative enough to get the attention of the judges that would be coming for a competition like this. He then remembered some advice that his mom had given him – granted it wasn't specifically for Totsuki, but it still applied. She had told him that when he was frustrated with a project, to just take a step back, go back to the basics, and lean on his strengths. So, what strengths did he have that he could use here? As Daniel gave this some thought, his mind immediately went to desserts, as that seemed to be his biggest culinary strength, and what he enjoyed making the most. But he began to shake his head as he thought, 'I can't make a curry dish that's a dessert…or can I?'
He then began to jot down some preliminary notes on a legal pad while his thoughts were fresh in his mind. He realized that it was almost certain that everyone else would be making a savory dish. If he could successfully pull off a sweet dish for this competition, he would definitely stand out amongst the other competitors, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to move on to the next round. As he started to drift off to sleep that night, he knew what kind of dish he wanted to make – he would just need to figure out how to do it.
The next day, he began to work, as did most of his other dorm mates, conceiving of, and creating, their dishes. As it was summer, it got hot and humid very quickly, with no real relief to be had, as the dorm didn't have air conditioning. In fact, it was so hot that Daniel was forced at night to sleep on top of his bed shirtless (he still wore shorts) while running a giant box fan in his window that he begged his parents to send him! During the day, the best thing he could do to keep his mind off the heat was to stream live Dodgers baseball games on his computer as he was working (remember the time difference between the U.S. and Japan).
While everyone was working hard, there were also days where they were able to take a break – like one day when Isshiki led everyone in the dorm to a nearby pond that somehow no one else knew about. At the pond, they were also joined by the Aldini brothers and Ikumi, who began coming by the dorm more and more often as time passed. In addition to going for a refreshing swim, they were also cooled off with finely shaved ice provided by Isshiki that came with all sorts of toppings (Daniel preferred the mango topping). Later on, Fumio came to join them, bringing (with the help of Shoji and Daigo) a grill and other supplies for a nice cookout. The fun evening ended with a fireworks show, courtesy of Isshiki, who also supplied the fireworks.
There came a time during the summer break when most of the dorm residents decided to take some time to go home and see their families, including Daniel. For a couple of weeks, at least, he could work in an environment which, while it wasn't the most culinarily equipped, was definitely air conditioned. Besides, it had been a while since he had spent time with his family, and he missed them. While he was there, they were very supportive of his prep work for the upcoming competition – even promising to try to come out and watch during the competition if possible. Daniel was able to develop his dish almost to the point of completion, with his parents and sister serving as taste testers. They were all fascinated by the creativity Daniel showed and were excited to try his dish, which they all ended up liking.
As pleased as Daniel was that his family liked what he had come up with, and as much he appreciated their support of him, he knew he needed someone to taste his dish who was more in tune with what would be considered good for this competition. When he returned to Polar Star after a couple of weeks, so did several of those who had gone home. He then got the idea to have Megumi and Yuki taste his dish, as they were in a different block from him and wouldn't be directly competing against him.
The two girls agreed to the idea and Daniel made each of them the dish he had come up with. They were both surprised at what he had come up with, commenting that they never would have thought to do what Daniel did, which made Daniel smile inside – his instincts on that point were correct, at least. Both of the girls really liked the dish, commenting on how the spices Daniel had selected had all gone really well together and made for a terrific dessert. However, they both also felt that there was something missing – they couldn't put their fingers on what exactly, but there was something that needed to be added to put the dish over the top.
Daniel had spent a couple of days pondering on what he could possibly add to the dish, when it suddenly came to him. It happened when he saw Soma working on his dish – or rather a specific component of his dish. When he saw what he was making, he slapped himself on the forehead as if to say, "Duh! Why didn't I think of that before!?" After doing some quick research, he got to work on the last component of his dish. After a couple of days of mixing and matching various ingredients, he felt he had come up with something that would work well with the rest of his dish. He then made the complete dish once again, this time with the added component. When he tasted it, he smiled a big smile at the result. He was now ready for the competition – and not a moment too soon.