Number 4 Yavin Street – Green Cloud Restaurant -

It was just another morning for Izuku, he woke-up at dawn, trained hard his cooking skills following the System's training regimen, sent a ' Good Morning' message to Momo and then prepared the spicy beef noodles for Blackie before giving a rapid clean-up to the restaurant before opening for business starting with his Breakfast Service, soon filling the Main Room in the amazing scent of croissants, cupcakes and freshly-ground coffee. And the latter was a joy for a coffee-junkie like Izuku, he had at his beck and call over a hundred different kinds of coffee to use, something that made him VERY happy.

Another thing that made him happy was not only the Jewel Meat already becoming a Cult Classic of Yavin Street with 'Meat Experts' clamoring to have more, Izuku actually found a Waitress! He finally found a GOOD one!

Miss Ochako was a dear friend of Momo the young woman assured was a very bright girl, in fact he could testify how young Uraraka had took the job seriously from the get-go: she was fast in delivering dishes and recovering the empty plates, she needed only a week to memorize most of the menu and was quick on the math for the customers bills and even faster to stop Dine-N-Dashers , even her Quirk was incredibly useful to deliver more dishes at once in a single trip!

Three days a week was all the time UA and her own Hero Training left her as free time for the job, but compared to nothing at all, the young Chef gladly accepted the extra help, especially since those three days covered the weekends where the influx of customers was the highest.

She was even chatty and curious about him personally! ( And didn't mind Izuku's numerous questions about her Quirk and the Hero Course in general), she actually looked like she was eager to be his friend!

So, yes, there were now many things that made sure Izuku could be outrageously happy while working lately!

Unfortunately that morning there was instead something that made him a bit less happy: seeing Toshinori, in his All Might Persona , enter his Restaurant as soon as he opened while wearing a yellow-striped suit that would make Fashion Designers everywhere gouge-out their eyes.

"Yes? Here again? This is the second time this week." he asked, a professional smile still present but clearly not reaching his eyes. Now he really felt like he needed Uraraka as a filter of sorts between him and the man or his old Partner Sir Nighteye, too bad it was Monday so Ochako could not be there to 'take the bullet' for her Boss.

"Ehm...Uhm... Parlay ?" the Pro Hero tried asking with a nervous smile.

"You mean the ' Let's put aside hostilities and talk like civilized people' thing?" Izuku asked, sighing.

"That one."

"...Get in." he answered after taking a HUGE breath and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Having sensed the hostility still lingering about and took a table on the far back under one of the Restaurant's infamous 'Quiet Trees ', Toshinori took a deep breath himself and addressed the core of the matter.

"Do you hate me?" he asked, bluntly.

"Hate is a strong word."

"Do you?"

"...No."

"You wouldn't have helped me if you did, I see."

"Not really."

"Uh?"

"To my shame, I mostly did it to show you and your Hero friends that even as a Chef I CAN change the world if I want to, but I did save you and changed your future with my dish all the same, didn't I?" the young Chef asked.

"So you knew?" Toshinori asked.

"About Sir Nighteye's prediction and how it got shattered? Yes, I was told by him during one of his NUMEROUS visits after your recovery. Same going with your dying Quirk, is it back to normal now?"

"…" that gave All Might a pause, he had felt One for All return to full power even after his passing it to Mirio after eating Izuku's food, but at the beginning he had thought it was merely a temporary thing, but instead it looked like the young Chef in front of him forcefully moved Time backwards for All Might's body and Quirk, a testament of which was the fact that now between 'Toshinori' and 'All Might' there wasn't much difference in muscles sizes.

Toshinori's body and Quirk were now back to what he was before that fateful battle against All for One, as if nothing ever happened, and he could not understand HOW the boy did that.

"My Quirk was supposed to fade away, but you resurrected it, and me with it...How?"

"Good food and skills. Why do you say your Quirk was supposed to fade away?" Izuku asked back.

"I...I am sorry, I can't tell you."

"Then I can't tell you how my Abilities work. Sorry but as it stands your Secrets are not more important than mine." Izuku answered while moving away to welcome a new duo of Customers.

"Chef Izuku! The usual!" the blond woman in Hero Costume asked.

"Sorry for bothering you as soon as you opened, but she gets crankier than usual without her breakfast," her masked companion added, sighing.

"No problems for me, I am always happy to serve my customers! I also got the chocolate cake out of the fridge before opening so it is now soft just how you like it. Does Miss Mt. Lady want some together with her coffee?" Izuku answered, this time with an honest happy smile.

"Yes, Miss Mt. Lady would love that." the woman replied with a cheeky smile.

"Me too, if you don't mind." Kamui Woods added, shrugging.

"I'll be with you in a moment," he answered before walking away.

"Good Morning." Toshinori said once seen the two sit close-by.

"First you get that Villain before me and now you want to steal my breakfast?" Mt. Lady hissed in contempt.

"I told you that I didn't want to steal anybody's job , I was just passing by when I saw Headgear taking hostages."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." she answered, making Kamui Woods shake his head in dismay at her manners.

One after another, more customers came and went, and Toshinori had a first row seat on seeing the boy managing the tables by himself while also cooking and recovering the empty plates, working tirelessly and yet exchanging smiles and jokes with the Regular Guests of his Restaurant...Except with him.

"Rumi-sa-"

"Rumi-chan! Chan! It's not that hard!" the bunny girl said with a mock glare.

"Rumi-chan...I CAN'T be your plate, that would be hardly hygienic. And also highly unprofessional" Izuku answered.

"But it would make ' licking the plate clean' so much better!" she replied.

"T-T-That too would be bad!"

"Afraid of getting hard?" she asked with a knowing smirk.

"...Among other things," he admitted.

"I swear I won't mind if that happens," Rumi promised while purposely passing her tongue extra slowly on her lips to turn them glistening.

"I would mind, instead. I would mind it A LOT!" Momo chose that moment to make her presence known, and actually sitting in front of Rumi at the same table.

"Momo?" Izuku asked.

"Took a little detour for a cup of coffee and a good morning, and I am glad I did it. Don't worry, I will deal with her myself." she answered, and turning just a bit smug at the kiss on the cheek she got from the young Chef before he left their table.

"This means nothing." Rumi hissed.

"What do you want from him? Is he another notch to put on your belt?"

"What the hell do you think I am, uh ?!" the bunny girl asked with a growl.

"Somebody coming here daily at random intervals to molest him. He is trying to do his job and doesn't need a horny rabbit clinging to his leg."

"HOW DARE YOU!?"

"What is his favorite color? Least liked movies? His mother's name? What's his dream? His worst fear?" Momo asked with a calm tone, opposite to Rumi's own furious one.

"…"

"I know many things about him and will learn even more because I am honestly interested in him, just like he is interested in me and is slowly learning more about me. On the contrary, you just want him the same way a spoiled toddler wants a new Toy. I am learning to know him, the Good and the Bad, just like he is doing with me...And You? Do you know ANYTHING about him? What do you want from him, really?"

"…" the bunny girl simply sat down at that.

"Thought so. He is just a new pass-time until you grow bored and find something else to keep you entertained, well, I won't let that happen." Momo declared, firmly.

"And what if I am serious about him?"

"Have you two met outside the Restaurant? Have you exchanged something more than a polite greeting? Talked together? Laughed together? Shared common interests? I think not. You just come here, make some crass jokes, unashamedly flirt with him to get him embarrassed and then leave. Sorry but no relationship can be born just from Teasing and Flirting , no matter what your favourite Shojo Manga may suggest."

"And you did all that instead?!" Rumi asked with a challenging tone.

"Yes."

"Uh?!"

"We go on dates, talk on the phone, he visits my home to teach my mother how to cook and I visit his parents home to spend some time with him and his family. We have already argued and made peace twice this week, we have officially been together. We kissed? Yes. We just embraced and enjoyed each other's company in silence? Yes! I got his head on my lap and my head on his plenty of times too! We are CLOSE , something fundamental to develop a relationship. Do you understand the difference between us then?"

"…" It was clear Rumi was angry, and yet tears too were mounting in her eyes, if from her rage or something else thought was known only to the bunny girl herself.

"This means nothing! NOTHING! And I'll prove it to you." she hissed in answer, eyes full of animal fury.

"How? Let's hear."

"By stealing him away from you. You make him happy? Well, I'll make him happier! If I had ANY doubt about courting him or not, thanks to you I got my head straight, he will be MINE!" she declared before marching away.

"Over my cold dead body, Usagiyama!" Momo growled back.

"Don't tempt me, Yaoyorozu!" the other answered, slamming the door closed and disappearing around the corner.

"...What happened?" Izuku asked, he had just left the kitchen to bring Momo her breakfast to witness the bunny girl storming off.

"Just a fool fighting a losing battle, don't worry." she replied with a gentle, sweet smile while accepting her coffee and croissant.

"Oookay? Just don't get hurt, please." Izuku begged, worried.

"Don't worry, if somebody gets hurt, that won't be ME, promise." she answered.

"That does not reassure me, truth be told." he admitted while walking towards All Might to deliver the man's ' American Style Breakfast' he had ordered, mountain of pancakes included.

"My God...I missed you, my old friends…" Toshinori admitted with teary eyes while looking at the waterfall of syrup covering the small mountain of pancakes from top to bottom, then at the roasted sausages, at the crunchy bacon, at the sunny-side-up eggs and at the HUGE pitcher of chilled orange juice in front of himself.

"The Oranges are freshly squeezed...Imported from Sicily...Please enjoy your meal." the young Chef said mechanically.

"I am really here to make peace, young Midoriya." Toshinori said with a sad smile.

Sigh! "Fine. I don't have a Quirk, Toshinori-san. It's another set of abilities that I have trained very hard for. I can't say anymore." Izuku whispered with a tired sigh.

" Hn !? '' The Pro Hero almost choked on his food at that admission.

"What about you?" the Chef asked.

"...I am sorry, I can't tell you."

"Hypocrite."

"I-" whatever excuse Toshinori was about to use died in his throat when he saw the young man's eyes lose focus and then bulge-out once he finished listening to whatever distracted him.

"...You GAVE your Quirk to somebody else?!" Izuku asked between clenched teeth.

"How do you know that?!" All Might asked in horror, it was mere luck they were talking with hushed tones and nobody heard them.

"Shut up. You said a Quirkless Hero was impossible even while having a way to MAKE IT possible all this time?! Good God! WHY?!"

"Listen, the situation is a bit more complex than-"

"What? Did Mirio suck you off in exchange?! Did he sleep with you?! Did he take up his ass or something?!" Izuku said with a hiss.

"I did not sleep with him! WAIT! You even know his name?!" This time Toshinori actually shrieked loud enough that everybody turned to look at them.

"For the love of... ARGH! I will go back to my job before I say or do something I will regret! And you should thank GOD I respect my Ingredients so much, or spitting on your plate every time you come here would be the NICEST thing I do to you! Hypocrite! Liar! Betrayer! PIECE OF...No, my mother taught me better than this…" Izuku's angry tirade was legendary, enough to shock the other customers at the rare scene, but the young Chef actually stopped himself before cursing for real, he just gave a strong kick to Toshinori's shin before marching back towards his kitchen and leaving behind the famous Hero All Might crying in pain while nursing his abused leg.

"Okay! Back to square one! He still is unhappy with me!" Toshinori declared to himself with a wince.

His second visit to the Restaurant after he confirmed his full recovery didn't go as well as he had planned for, and only made it clear that the Universe had stacked the deck against him! And he didn't even have the chance to ask the young Chef the questions Recovery Girl demanded Toshinori to ask! The Pro Hero just KNEW the 'pint sized' Medic will pretty much go ballistic once learned of his failure.

"Did you make him dirty, All Might?" Tsukauchi asked as soon as he and a few of his colleagues entered the place to see the Pro Hero in his current predicament.

"Is it that obvious?"

"A bit, but you are still in the clear, you have not been stripped by Whitey, after all." the Detective answered, amused.

"Yeah...Small mercy that…" Toshinori replied in sarcasm while watching the chubby robot peek inside the room to keep things in check and run a thumb along its neck in a threatening manner once it locked eyes with the Pro Hero, although what worried Toshinori the most was seeing the black Lord Dog outside take a glance inside for a moment to send a glare at the Pro Hero.

BANG!

In that moment every noise in the Restaurant died when four burly young men wearing cheap plastic face-masks and armed with crowbars and a gasoline tank barged in.

"Okay, assholes, out! We are here to teach some Useless Quirkless Trash that there is no...Place...For him here…" the Boss of the quartet started barking orders as soon as they all got in, and only THEN finally noticing who exactly was he yelling at while brandishing his crowbar:

Detective Tsukauchi himself, accompanied by four MASSIVE officers in full Police Force attire.

The ninja Pro Hero Edgeshot together with the Pro Hero Ingenium, both with their chopsticks mid-way to their mouth for their very first bite of long-awaited breakfast.

The retired and converted to quasi-good Mexican Villain 'El Macho' that had come to visit his daughter, a Hero Student at Ketsubutsu University and already known in the city as 'Miss Pain'. With them there was also Pro Hero 'Miss Joke' acting as a guest in that breakfast meeting between father and daughter to talk about the girl's school results and future Apprenticeship.

A duo of undercover agents from I-Island that were using the excuse of them keeping tabs on Izuku to have some good breakfast. One of which with a Quirk generating lightning from his closed fists and a penchant for testicle-punching.

The Pro Hero Hawks that was standing in a corner waiting for a table to get free.

Momo that had already created a thick police baton with her Quirk and looked ready to start bashing heads.

And last, but not least important: All Might himself.

They all were looking at the Hooligans while slowly getting up from their seats if they were sitting at a table, and all of them were PISSED beyond belief.

"Troublemakers will be stripped as an example to others!" when Whitey too made his appearance from the kitchen flashing red eyes and zero mercy, the hooligans understood they were in trouble.

"FUCK! SCATTER!" At their Leader's order the very scared grunts did the smart thing and bolted out of the restaurant to board the car waiting for them with the engine already warm so as to get away at high speed.

"Get them!" one of the Police Officers yelled, but before the group could give chase, Izuku stopped them.

"No need." He said.

"Uh?"

"They are not worthy of you all abandoning your breakfast. I got Whitey for this sort of bullies."

"But they-"

"Whitey, fetch." Izuku ordered while patting the Robot's soft belly.

"Understood!" the robot answered while the Restaurant door opened by itself.

BANG!

To the present's surprise the chubby robot simply blurred away at insane speed soon followed by the noise of the Sound Barrier being torn to shreds by a speeding body.

"Please return to your breakfast, and as an apology for this inconvenience, the first coffee refill will be on me this time." Izuku offered with a bow and a gentle smile.

"Relax, guys, that robot has everything under control!" The undercover agents from I-Island reassured the others while returning to their table with a knowing smile etched on their faces.

"Oh, yeah! They are screwed."

With Whitey -

WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

The sports car the five guys had rented for their escape was roaring at full throttle as they tried escaping from the fat robot, which instead was rapidly gaining terrain on them while running with heavy, thumping steps.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

"FASTER! FASTER!"

"I AM TRYING!" The driver shrieked in answer, and using all her abilities to take a daring turn so suddenly the car went briefly on two wheels before slamming back down on all four to sprint away.

BANG!

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" to their horror as soon as the actually turned the corner Whitey was already waiting for them to grab the front of the car and abruptly stop them, with the back wheels of the car spinning in place so fast the tires looked ready to catch fire.

"Troublemakers will be stripped as an example to others!" Whitey declared loudly, thing that made the people around them in the area grow horrified at the strange threat.

"LET US GO!" the Leader of the gang yelled.

"No." was the robot's answer as his grip on the car's front tightened, and with a mighty pull of his big hands, the entire vehicle went torn in half as if made of tissue paper, making the five hooligans fall sitting on the street with bulged-out eyes.

"Beginning Stripping Protocol!" Whitey said once thrown away the two car halves while walking towards the five with heavy steps.

"Fuck off! Knife Hand!" one of the guys said while activating his Quirk and turning his fingers into dagger-long blades.

SLAP! BANG! STRIIIIP!

Unfazed by the incoming attack, Whitey gave a downward slap to the guy that slammed him head-first on the concrete hard enough to knock the jock unconscious instantly, and once sure he was not moving, the robot grabbed the back of the guy's clothes and pulled, tearing those to shreds and letting the unconscious young man still in his boxers fly away and land on the near walkway.

"One down, four remaining."

"STAY AWAY! DEVIL'S LEG! " another said, igniting his leg on fire thanks to his Heat-Controlling Quirk to deliver a flaming spin kick to Whitey's head.

"...Troublemakers will be stripped as an example to others. " The plump robot simply took the attack head-on without a scratch or his head moving at all, he just looked at the attacker straight in the eyes, unfazed.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU MADE OF?!" the guy shrieked in Horror, but his only answer was a back-handed slap that knocked him out for Whitey to strip down right after, too bad the guy decided THAT DAY was a good day to go commando .

"Three Troublemakers remaining." Whitey declared once thrown the second fainted hooligan on top of the first.

"Together, brother!"

"Yeah!"

"MAGNETIC TWISTE- GUEH! " before the two twins could actually initiate their combo attack ( they both had a Magnetic Quirk, one brother had a Positive Pole, the other a Negative Pole.), Whitey simply opted for flash-stepping in front of them and smash their heads together a couple times until they too fainted. Then he stripped them and threw them on the pile.

"One Troublemaker remaining." he then said as his red eyes landed on the only girl of the group possessing a Quirk making her a Human-Cheetah hybrid.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screaming in terror, the young woman showed her enhanced speed by turning around and running as fast as she could.

"No escape." the robot was unimpressed, and simply pointing his right closed fist at her, the entire arm detached at the elbow and shoot forward like a missile to immediately grab her ankle and start pulling her beck towards Whitey.

"AAAAAAH! NO! NO! PLEASE NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING! PLEASE! PLEASE! AAAAAAAH!" reduced to a blabbing mess crying in hysteria, the last masked hooligan clawed in despair on the floor as she was rapidly dragged back, gaining her many looks of sympathy as bystanders started begging Whitey to show mercy.

"Troublemakers must be stripped as an example to others." Whitey answered as soon as his arm reconnected and his hand grabbed her by the collar.

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TELL YOU WHO SENT US! OTHERS TOLD US TO DO THIS! I SWEAR I AM INNOCENT! I HAD NO CHOICE!" the young woman begged while crying heavily, snot and tears drenching her face mask.

"...I am Listening." Whitey said after a long pause that almost scared the woman to death, then his eyes turned from red to white and the robot just observed her.

"I will talk...I swear I will talk...I am innocent...They said I would have been kicked-out if I didn't do this." the girl babbled and hiccuped heavily.

"Troublemakers will be taken back to the Restaurant for questioning. Any resistance will be met with extreme prejudice." Whitey declared while moving the girl on his right shoulder and holding the other unconscious men under his left arm.

"Yes!" the woman shrieked in answer.

BOOM!

Once again a loud sound blared around the robot as the thing dashed away at high speed to return to Izuku, leaving behind a shocked audience of passerby, one of which a young woman by the name Mei Hatsume that was looking longingly at the robot in badly-restrained need to disassemble it to learn how it worked.

Not too far away a hidden spy of the League of Villains that happened to be in the area to kidnap Tomoko of the Wild Wild Pussycats was instead cursing the robot's existence, because half of the hooligans' car Whitey threw away actually landed on him before he could do the deed and overpower her in that empty hallway, and by the looks the young green-haired woman was throwing at him now that she was free of his hold on her, the lackey just KNEW the car wreckage that smashed his legs will be the least of his worries, especially once he'd seen the furious intent the famous Ragdoll was cracking her knuckles with.

Had someone seen it, the Old School Beat-down the Pro Hero administered on her wanna-be kidnapper would have gone down in history for its raw brutality, unfortunately for the guy nobody saw them, and the lack of witnesses meant Tomoko could go as much heavy-handed as she wanted on the guy while tenderizing him.

All for One won't like to discover that because of Whitey, both the Wild Wild Pussycats and several other Pro Heroes now knew he was interested in capturing Ragdoll .

The Villain was starting to really dislike that accursed Quirkless Chef...

While Tomoko was brutalizing the Villain with a brick – Green Cloud Restaurant -

The Customers were indeed surprised to see Whitey return just a couple minutes after his departure while carrying the unconscious hooligans like sacks of potatoes the robot just threw on the floor once inside.

"Troublemakers captured. The female one is willing to talk. " the robot explained.

"Really? Okay, then. Why did you try to destroy this place? Let's hear." Tsukauchi asked while he and his colleagues cuffed them all.

"Yamato! Rector Yamato sent us! She said that if we didn't smash this place and forced the Chef to stop cooking she would have failed us all! I swear! She sent us! The others did it for fun because he is just a Quirkless, but I had no other choice! I am in Inoshiki Academy with a scholarship, I need that to keep studying!" the young woman said immediately while eyeing Whitey in fear.

"No lies detected." Whitey informed the Detective.

"The Rector of Inoshiki Academy…" Izuku muttered with a cold tone.

"Yes, I can tell she is not lying." Tsukauchi answered.

"The Rector is called Yamato Kurogawa if I am not mistaken," one of the Officers said.

"Why did she want this place gone?" Miss Joke asked, confused.

"Because I scared her precious friend Samui with my skills during a small cooking competition they both were in as Judges…" Izuku answered, and many of the present felt a chill crawl up their spines at the absolute lack of humanity in the Chef's voice.

"First they tried burning down my Restaurant, then to contaminate the water, then they tried sending cockroaches and rats and THEN they bribed Health Inspectors and Food Critics to force me to close!" the young Chef hissed while pulling away her mask so as to better glare at the young woman.

"Grrrr!"

When the Appetite Demon appeared behind him to growl at the cheetah girl, Izuku's glare grew tenfold in intensity, soon making her pale to unhealthy levels.

"Do you have proof of all that?" Tsukauchi asked, tense, and ready to intervene should things escalate between the two.

"Of course I don't, I don't need to tell you that they were smart enough to not leave behind anything leading back to them,"

"No, it's very likely they covered their traces, and even should SHE confess, they will probably throw her under the bus and say she was just trying to blame them to save herself." the Detective answered, sighing.

" Host is rightfully furious about this new attack. It is time to move on the offensive and teach the Enemy the True Horror of the future God of Cooking of the Hero World and his rage! "


Abrupt Mission:

Challenge the 5 best students of Inoshiki Academy in a cooking Contest and defeat them.

Challenge the 4 Best Teachers of Inoshiki Academy and its Rector in a Cooking Contest and defeat them.

Reward: 10% Bonus on Experience points and 1 Fragment of the God of Cooking Set .

Special Reward for completing 5 Cooking Challenges in a single day: Time-Elapsing Cabinet .

Everything put in that cabinet to marinate, decanter, ferment or freeze will do so at an accelerated rate up to one hundred times faster.


"You have 1 month to complete the Mission, work hard and destroy your competition, Young Man!" The System instructed as soon as Izuku's anger reached the peak, and the fanged smile that almost split his face in two actually made the bound cheetah girl pee herself, if one watched the big wet spot that appeared on the front of her pants.

"Very well. If they want War, I will give them War...You are a student of Inoshiki Academy, yes?" he asked.

"Y-Y-YESSIR!" the young woman replied, nodding as fast as her neck could let her.

"Good. I want you to go back and give a message to your rector Yamato Kurogawa: in exactly seven days I will pay your University a visit. I want to challenge your 5 Best Students and the 5 Best Teachers, one of which will be Yamato herself, to a Cooking Duel. IF they win I will close my Restaurant forever, but if I win, they will leave me alone and stop bothering me. Can you do this for me?" Izuku asked.

"Y-Yes! But I-I don't know if they will accept!"

"It's either that or him taking this to court, I too will personally vouch for him in court if he needs," Toshinori tried saying, clearly disappointed in such Villainous tactics being used.

"All of the present will testify as well!" Miss Joke added, arms crossed with a frown on her face, many around the room nodded as well.

"O-Okay." the cheetah girl said, weakly, while being helped to stand thanks to Tsukauchi pulling on her arm.

"Very good, while my colleagues take your friends to jail for attempted acts of vandalism and assault, me and you will go deliver this fancy little challenge, THEN you will join them, okay?" the Detective said.

"Yes, sir...I-I am sorry." she answered, crying once again.

Sigh! "We'll be gentle in your case, since they forced you to be the driver for this idiotic farce, let's go." he answered with a sigh of dismay while he and the other agents, begrudgingly, left the Restaurant after barely having had enough time to actually drink their coffee.

While this happened, the two undercover agents sent a message to I-Island telling them what happened to one of their 'Darlings' and about the Cooking Challenge, this in turn angered the Old Man enough he himself made a couple phone calls to make sure those guys DID accept the Challenge and took it seriously.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Inoshiki is one of the premiere schools for Chefs, you told me so yourself." Momo asked, worried.

"This is the last chance for them to close this feud they have against me in a civilized manner, after this, I will either send Whitey or Blackie to deal with them, depending on how hard they spit on my offer of peace." Izuku answered, sighing.

"Blackie?" the young woman muttered while stealing a glance at the Lord Dog sleeping outside.

"Wouldn't that mean sending a nuke towards them?" she asked in dread.

"As a last resort, I am no bully. I just want them to leave me alone, but they keep pushing and threatening me. I am just returning the favour." he answered with a tiny smile.

"Just don't overdo it, okay?"

"I won't, Momo."

Thunk!

It was then that Whitey walked inside the kitchen and brought out a big squared wooden cabinet made in lacquered dark reddish wood giving-off a faint and pleasant flowery smell, the thing was decorated with cloud carvings and hinges and corner covers were made in shining bronze.

"Host please collect a knife from each Chef defeated and put it here, as a reminder of your Skills." Whitey repeated the System's words while opening both doors of the thing to show the various empty hooks inside.

"Taking Trophies may be a bit too harsh though." Toshinori commented, unsure.

"It is not my fault if we came to this, I am just taking a knife with their names written on it as a reminder of my victory, as a way for me to feel pride for my skills, they will still be able to study and all, I am not crippling them." Izuku answered while caressing the thing.

"Okay, I will do it." he then said aloud, who heard him thought he was accepting the cabinet suggestion, in reality the young Chef was accepting the abrupt Mission of the System.

"Understood." Whitey said before taking the wooden cabinet and mounting it on the wall next to the small window connecting kitchen to Main Hall, it was still empty, but many wondered how many knives will one day fill it since there were a lot of knife-holding hooks ready to be used.

After that, the Customers present that had already eaten left so that others could fill the Main room of the Green Cloud Restaurant and have their breakfast, and among the ones leaving, many were already telling their friends what had happened, and those friends told their friends, who told their friends and so on, soon spreading the rumor of a lone Chef moving a personal crusade against his enemies.

A Week Later – Inoshiki Academy – Main Cooking Classroom -

The Rector of the private university for aspiring Chefs, Yamato Kugogawa, was a middle-aged woman in her sixties with her hair in a very strict chignon and wearing her old Chef Attire with the utmost pride, the thing was also still sporting the three Stars she had added to the small pocket over her heart when in her youth she had gained the third Michelin Star for her personal Restaurant, nowadays owned and directed by her son himself, he too present to help her face Izuku's challenge.

The Woman was now marching between the seats of the full kitchen/class and admiring the twenty students there, especially the five that were placed in the first row and puffing their chest out I pride.

"I won't sugar-coat it. The guy that challenged our School's pride is a Monster , somebody with unnatural cooking talent that popped-out from the woodwork like the Nightmare he is. He openly challenged our 5 Kings and our 4 best Teachers, and myself, to a cooking showdown." the woman said before walking back towards her desk to look in the eyes of the students in front of her.

"Normally I would have laughed at this preposterous Challenge, especially so since he is also a Quirkless, but other than astounding Talent, the little bastard has powerful Friends backing him too, and after an incident where four of our EX Students forced a fifth to act as their driver while they went to Punish him for some inane reason, we risk being dragged to court for a case of Assault that will simply destroy us if we don't go along and accept this Challenge of his." she then said, barely hiding her anger at remembering how the MORONS she sent on such a simple Mission to scare a Quirkless had failed so hard ALL MIGHT of all people was ready to intervene in what could be the greatest PR nightmare she had ever seen, second only to when those Paparazzi caught her father basking a still-alive turkey with his dick, that had been a nightmare and a half to cover.

"Why us?" one of the five best students of Inoshiki (the 5 Kings) asked.

"Because those idiots tried saying WE sent them to demolish the Restaurant and beat the stuffing out of that boy, and since I DO have a past with that Chef, due to common acquaintances, it wouldn't be hard for him to twist things in a way that makes ALL OF US look like the Villains, and that means both Students and Teachers will have their reputation tarnished forever, and I will be caught dead before that happens!" she answered, and the class gave a loud roar of appreciation to her words.

"Good to see you all motivated! This is what we will do. We accepted the Challenge and will play nice while following the rules we both agreed on: he and us will use the same Ingredients and the same appliances to cook and the best Dish and Chef wins, simple as that.

There is a catch: if HE wins, he will take one of your knives as a trophy and pretend the loser to write their name on the blade as a reminder, but if he loses, he will actually close his Restaurant forever. We only need ONE of you to defeat him, so do your best!" the old woman instructed.

"We'll destroy him, Madame!" the girl ranked number 1 of the 5 Kings answered immediately.

"I hope so. Now, head count, Kings!" Yamato's son gave a barking order.

"Number 5: Meat King! Toshio, present!" a chubby boy with fiery red hair said while stepping forward.

"Number 4: Fish King! Sadao, present!" a lean girl with long lime-green hair walked forward next, eyes narrowed into slits.

"Number 3: Dessert King! Michiko, present!" A short girl with blotchy cheeks and a dozen purple tentacles for hair said right after while adjusting her thick glasses.

"Number 2: Vegetable King! Takeo, present!" an extremely tall young man with broad shoulders and muscled body answered next, his voice loud like thunder. Many girls in the class swoon HARD once heard him, as always whenever he talked.

"Number 1: Soup King! Mako, present!" The last one was a tall girl of incomparable beauty, white hair and grey eyes able to freeze the blood of whoever she looked at, she was just as beautiful as she was cold and merciless. This time it was the male half of the class to simp loudly for her.

"You all trained and studied extra hard these seven days, do not disappoint me." Yamato ordered with a low voice.

"Never, Madame!" the five students replied as one.

" Attention please! All students be advised... He is here. " a young voice was heard saying gravely from the speakers inside the classroom, just like from every other speaker around the University, and that message caused a deep silence to befall on the entire campus.

"Tell Professor Kuroi to bring him here, it's time to start." Yamato asked her son with a tense tone.

"I'll do it, and I will also alert the Teachers you have chosen and tell them to be ready, just in case." the young man answered before hurrying out.

"Thank you. You others, take position and take this Challenge seriously, treat it like a fight with your Life on the line."

"Of course, madame." the 5 Kings answered as one.

University Entrance -

Izuku was looking at the wide and opulent entrance garden leading to the majestic gate of the building proper, and declaring whoever built the place to be an avid Rom-Com Manga reader, because the entire path towards the entrance had at both sides two long rows of giant cherry trees, meaning that during the right season pink petals would fall everywhere around the students in a very cliché way during their entire walk to the entrance.

"Now I understand what the Main Character of a 90s Manga feels like…Should I run through it with toast dangling from my mouth, I wonder?" Sigh! "Let's go, Whitey."

Giving a gentle pat on the robot's soft belly behind him, Whitey was also carrying on his back the wooden knife cabinet, Izuku lightly slapped his own cheeks and marched forward towards the lanky man in expensive suit waiting for him.

"Midoriya?" the man said as soon as the young Chef reached him.

"Uh-hu."

"Follow me." the teacher answered before walking away with a brisk pace.

" Eagle 1, I have a clear view of Subject 37 . I will follow him from outside, over.`` A small drone also followed the duo from outside thanks to the ample windows in the corridors.

Inside -

"Mimic 3, I see them . They are going to Classroom 7, over. " the guy pretending to be one of the janitors said to the hidden microphone inside the broom in his hands.

" Understood. Here is Minimize, I will shrink myself to ant size and enter the room. I will record everything but go radio silent. Over. " another spy of I-Island answered with a nod before activating his Quirk and shrinking down to the size of an ant to pass under the door and spy on Izuku's challenge.

"Attention to all posts, be ready for forceful extraction should those Morons try anything. Over." the Old Man guiding the operation ordered.

" Yessir!"

Inside the classroom -

" Miss Rei, your friend just entered, what do I do? " one of the girls in the back stealthily wrote on her phone as soon as Izuku got in.

" Keep an eye on Icchan for me, and send me a call should things go south. Your mother and I will come to recover him and you in a matter of minutes, so just buy us time in case of an emergency. " Rei Yaoyorozu texted back.

" Ok. " the girl replied, rapidly hiding her phone before anybody could catch her.

"Good evening," Izuku said with a formal bow towards the old woman.

"Good Evening. This Challenge was a bit of a show of strength, and not a very refined one." Yamato said with a cold tone.

"There was no other choice, you and your little friends glued your derrieres on top of a pedestal and started attacking me as soon as your poor friend Samui got scared of competition. If good manners don't work, I will use strength. I won't be bullied." He whispered while presenting his hand to her.

"Listen here, you little upstart sh- EEEK !" making the mistake of shaking his hand, the old woman felt a hydraulic press threaten to turn her bones to dust when his hand almost squashed hers to stop her cussing, although the merciless light in his eyes came right after to silence her subtle shriek as well. No Human should have those eyes.

"First your students, then your teachers, then you. You caused this, not me." he answered before walking towards his own cooking station to check it.

" No tampering has been detected, Host Izuku. You can give your all." the System informed him while Whitey swept the room with red eyes and then settling in a corner of the room to observe everything.

"Whenever you want, I am ready." Izuku said while tying a green bandanna on his head.

"You'll have to work your way up, kiddo! But while I may be the fifth, I am still WAY beyond you in abilities!" the Fifth King, Meat King Toshio, said with a sneer shaking his flabby cheeks heavily as he took position on the cooking station at the opposite side of Izuku.

The rest of the classroom moved away to give the two all the space they needed while the other Kings sat on chairs right in front of them to observe, Yamato and her son did the same right after.

"As the very first Challenge of Midoriya Izuku VS the 5 Kings, we prepared something special for this first round…" Yamato said with a malicious smile as her son brought along a tray covered by a pure-white cloth with Inoshiki's Insignia embroidered on it.

"You will regret leaving the choice of Ingredients to us, boy! I WILL DESTROY YOU! NO QUIRKLESS UPSTART SHALL PUT MY GRANDFATHER'S INOSHIKI ACADEMY TO SHAME! The old woman mentally roared as her soul momentarily turned putrid black.

"This will be your Ingredient: Bear Meat." Yamato's son, Minato, declared while uncovering several amazing cuts of marvelous meat neatly disposed and divided into groups following the type of cut.

"WOOOOOW!" the class as one gave a loud scream of awe.

"Look at that meat's marbling !" a young man said in reverential awe while committing to memory every delicate line of fat adorning the meat.

"That luster! How can raw meat shine like a jewel!?" a girl said right after, sounding almost ready to cry at the innate beauty of the thing.

"That is truly the peak of what Bear Meat can be!" a third said, awed.

" Analysis...Meat quality: Passable . Does the Host wish the System to switch it with the Berserker Bear Meat Host collected in the Jungle World ? Host can also use Jewel Meat if he so wishes." the System declared in a tone of almost contempt instead of monotonous.

" As expected from an Entity as Merciless as the System, your standards are WAY TOO HIGH. No need, Jewel Meat or those bears would be like going to a gunfight armed with a Nuke. I will fight them equally, no need to Cheat with them. " Izuku thought in answer while checking the meat himself.

"...You bled, carved and Processed this quite well. Two different people did it, though. The belly meat has been carved with a different technique than the other cuts." Izuku said after a couple minutes, making Yamato and Minato's eyebrows shot high in surprise.

"Indeed...You have some good eyes." Minato admitted, impressed.

"And you have bad knives, this cut on the belly meat is two millimeters off. As far as I am concerned, this meat is unusable, if not completely ruined. I will use the paws." Izuku countered, displeased, while taking the skinned paws of the bear and returning to his station.

They wanted to play the Prissy Game? Then they will face a Master! He used to be the King of Chefs as Zaus! He used to have a net-worth of Billions with thousands of Restaurants under his direct control, he had STANDARDS he could be annoying about if he so wished! Especially when he and Setsuno used to go into ' Pissing Contests' when younger and purposely finding every tiny chance to criticize the other's dish as a form of friendly rivalry, he still remembered how to be annoyingly picky on purpose!

"Why you…" Yamato hissed between clenched teeth, happy to be secretly streaming the Challenge for thousands to see him fail!

"You are insulting Meat, you Quirkless bastard!" Toshio growled while taking his own selection of bear meat and preparing some frying oil together with batter.

"No. You insulted it by using the bear paws as mere Decoration to demonstrate what Animal this was. They have barely bled, and who skinned them did so just to not make them Unpleasant to look at by leaving the fur on them only. The paws are the PRIDE of a Bear, and you ruined them just to appease your Ego. So I will make sure this poor bear will have her revenge by using her ruined paws to 'Slaughter' that Ego of yours." Izuku answered with sharp eyes.

"You...You know it's a female?" Yamato asked.

"I am a Chef, Yamato-san. I honour Ingredients every time I put them on the chopping board! I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their sacrifice and always make sure their Taste it's worthy of such sacrifice! THAT is a true Chef to me." he answered, and a few for an instant thought the paws in front of him gained just a bit more luster at his words.

Unknown to them, Izuku could still hear The Voice of Ingredients , and the paws' feeling of gratitude boosted his morale to high levels; many also laughed at his bold claim, except for the Kings number 2 and 1 that instead seemed to appreciate his words, somehow.

"We'll see if you are as good at cooking than at talking! LET'S GO!" Toshio roared as he slammed a meat-grinder on his workstation and started grinding roast, back ribs and Round bear meat together into a rough mix.

"Of course." Izuku answered while studying the paws and delicately adjusting the meat smoothness ruined by the improper skinning with a few feather-light cuts of his knife, then gently removing the small claws and setting them aside as a lucky charm of sorts.

To be fair, it was not exactly carelessness or unwillingness the cause of the paws bad shape, most Chefs simply preferred not to use the paws due to the high ratio of tough muscles in them compared to the rest of the body, so while a bit tasty in itself as an Ingredient, whoever prepared the meat thought that in a challenge between kids nobody would have dared to use the paws, so a light-hearted job was done because of it, for the sake of appearances.

Sniff! Sniff! " Yes, this will suffice, the bouquet is good enough." Izuku said while positioning both paws into a pot and fully covering them in white wine to remove the faint traces of unpleasant smell still clinging to the meat after its incomplete treatment.

The other contestant, instead...

" Five-Flavor Berries Essence, Japanese Sake, diced Onion and just a pinch of salt...And the unpleasant smell of Bear becomes heavenly delicious!" The Meat King was heard muttering with a low, ominous voice as he ground the meat again once mixed those ingredients with it, his smile unpleasant and creepy as drool faintly flowed down his double chin.

"Whitey." the class heard Izuku say.

"Host?"

"Bring me these herbs and this honey from that cabinet. I would prefer to not leave my workstation unsupervised." he asked after jotting down a rapid list on a piece of paper.

"Understood." the Robot answered while walking towards the Ingredients cabinet Yamato furnished for this challenge.

"There is no need to fear, we won't need to Cheat to win this." Mako, King number 1, answered, sneering.

"Forgive me if I do not trust you, but I am still in enemy territory , caution is essential." he answered while returning the stare with interest.

"Host, here are the Ingredients." Whitey in the meantime had returned with the spices and herbs and the honey the young man asked for.

"Good! They will help me prepare a good stock!" Izuku answered, happily, and soon filled the room in the aromatic scent of the stock he prepared with those and left to boil at low flame.

"Afraid of the Bear Meat aroma?" Toshio asked with a savage smile.

"Hn?"

"Let me tell you a secret: Bear Meat is my favourite Ingredient! There is not a single thing I don't know about it! I already cooked it in every possible way! I dare say that I have eaten enough bear meat to put the species at risk!" the fat boy said while collecting a thick broth-like sauce made with the bear meat itself and adding it to the ground meat, fearlessly adding MORE of the innate wild flavor of the Bear meat to the already flavorful mixture he just created.

"...Not surprising, really." Izuku admitted while recovering the bear paws from their wine bath to lightly coat them in honey and then submerge them in the bubbling stock.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!" the young man shrieked with bloodshot eyes.

"WHAT!? NO! I meant that of course they would choose an Ingredient you are most suitable with to try and get an easy win! I would never insult somebody for their looks!" Izuku answered, appalled, and actually looked hurt at the insinuation.

"Oh...Okay. No offense taken then." the Meat King replied, immediately calming down.

While this small exchange happened, the fat boy had prepared the side sauce for the hamburger patties of highly aromatic bear meat he had knelt by hand, and as soon as the oil in his pan started sizzling, he started frying, soon engulfing the room into an explosion of meaty aroma, but even if the people present felt like they were choking, the scent was still amazing.

" Do you feel it now, you little pest?! The pressure of my Students?! Of the KINGS I personally nurtured?! " Yamato thought maliciously while looking at Izuku in hope to see him despair...And finding him utterly uninterested instead, too taken by his own cooking to even notice what was happening around him.

"...Hn, not bad." That was all the comment she heard him give at the aroma, and even that seemed half-hearted at best.

" I FUCKING HATE YOU! " the old woman roared inside her head while looking ready to spit venom everywhere.

"Your hamburgers are ready." Izuku actually said aloud a couple minutes later, he hadn't been looking at Toshio at all, he just took a sudden sniff to the scent in the air and gave his verdict.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, YOU BLOODHOUND!" the Meat King roared in answer, only to notice his hamburgers were indeed ready, and taking them out of the oil immediately with a surprised expression.

"By frying I have concentrated and strengthened the Bear aroma even more! A razor-edge between Deliciousness and Ruin! You can't get closer than this!" he declared once finished preparing his dish.

The big fried hamburger steak glistened in the room's light thanks to the thick fatty oils gently flowing down from its top, releasing an intense and thick aroma every time Toshio moved it while dividing it into portions for the judges and Izuku himself.

"Amazing! He used Bear meat in a way that produced such intense aroma without a single iota of stink! HOW?!" a girl asked in shock.

"He is the Meat King! What the hell did you expect?!" another student answered.

"Mincemeat Katsu! With meat straight from the bear's bones! The most intense bear flavour humanity has ever seen!" Toshio declared, boldly.

"We will proceed with the tasting then." Yamato declared once she, her son Minato and the other Kings all got a plate.

"Bit of an unfair Judging group." Izuku admitted, sighing.

"I don't know what is the history between our Rector and you, but I do have a sense of Pride as a Chef. If Toshio made an inferior dish he would lose, if he made a better dish he would win. School Pride has nothing to do with this." King 2, Takeo, answered. And again his female classmates simped HARD for him.

"Same here. If he loses, it will mean he is just unfit to be a King . No need to Cheat and save a Loser. I do have my dignity." Mako, King 1, chorused as well, and both Kings skillfully ignored the hateful glare Yamato stealthily sent them.

"That's a bit too harsh." Izuku answered, sighing, while trying the piece of hamburger steak Toshio prepared and growing pleasantly surprised.

"Sour. Bitter. Sweet. Spices. And Salt. Only somebody truly knowing every facet of the taste of Bear Meat can achieve such a result and turn the stink of a beast into a gourmet delicacy!" Yamato declared once tasted the thing. She too pleased to the core.

"Good control of the flame and oil's temperature, the meat has been cooked just right to make it tender and flavourful. Impressive for somebody so young." Minato added, his narrowed eyes were also studying the cross-section of the meat created by his bite AND the knife that cut through it.

"Thank you, Mister Minato." Toshio replied while puffing-out his chest.

"Too greasy, though. There is oil everywhere." The boy's sails went then immediately deprived of wind by Mako's words right after as she scrunched her nose a bit at the overflowing of oil when she tried squeezing the meat.

"That is part of the dish! At each bite the meat juices and the oil mix together with the meat to create a soup-like fee-"

"Do NOT talk about soup with me, PIG!" the king Number 1 interrupted him with a glare, silencing him.

"This is at best a good dish for some barely-decent Fast Food Restaurant! Good for nothing beside clogging arteries and satisfying fatty losers! You ground some meat and fried it, big deal! Now be quiet and enjoy your win, IF you win. Since that other idiot at least used more complex techniques compared to yours.`` The young woman's tirade was frosty-cold, probably thanks to her own Quirk since the temperature around her DID turn colder the longer she spoke.

"Sorry, Miss Mako…" Toshio muttered while looking down, chastised.

" High-Strung, maybe?" Izuku thought, surprised by the outburst.

" The Girl's Quirk generates cold by absorbing inside herself the warmth around her, as a side-effect her self-control slips and she is victim of a burst of Anger once enough Heat is stored. One can say she 'Overheats Herself' to turn everything else around her cold." the System explained, and the young Chef could only look at the girl in amazement, and just a bit of pity. That side-effect gave him a good inkling as to why she didn't try to become a Hero even with such an amazing Quirk.

"I like it, instead." Izuku declared.

"Uh?"

"Yes, it's greasy. Yes, it is not a fancy dish, but I can see friends share some good moments while eating this! The taste is very strong, in a good way, and the garlic and berries counterbalance well the gamey aroma still in the meat. This is very good. As you said, every bite is a bomb of flavour that makes me crave for more, good job!" he explained while happily eating his own portion.

"...Thank you, but I don't need your pity." Toshio muttered, bitterly, yet thankful all the same.

"This is a good start for this Challenge, now finish your plate so we will be able to choose the winner." Minato asked once every plate was eaten clean, except Mako that left her half-full to keep her point.

"Almost ready." the young Chef answered.

Once satisfied with the first boiling, Izuku took out the bear paws and put them aside to clean the wok and refill it with clean water and a new batch of diced herbs and spices, all the while the bear paws kept letting out thin steam lines carrying meaty fragrance with a touch of gamey undertone, just enough to entice the appetite without resulting unpleasant.

The young Chef repeated the boiling another two times at always shorter length and changed herbs and spices used at each new boiling, slowly letting their flavour deep inside the meat.

Washed the wok a third time, oil was finally used to rapidly fry herbs and berries before the paws went added to the wok he then left to simmer in peace.

The fragrance still had a hint of a gamey smell but now any trace of stink had been fully removed, leaving behind only the pleasant smell of such unique meat cooking slowly, and whenever Izuku gave a toss to the wok to turn the paws in it around, many female students could not help but be entranced by the young man's serious expression and the glittering of his eyes while he admired his work.

Unknown to him both in the class and in the livestream he was very slowly gaining the attention of the onlookers, all for the chagrin of Momo that saw the comments in the same livestream she found thanks to her mother, and she didn't like it one bit to see more girls showing interest in him.

After boiling and simmering the bear paws, the meat had become extremely soft and tender while retaining a faint trace of its old marbling, the two things looked extremely delicate and beautiful like a replica made in precious stone.

Retrieving a huge and round porcelain plate, the tender bear paws were then placed into the center and decorated by a thin layer of minced aromatic herbs, and once put aside some of the meat juices remaining from the simmering, the wok went rapidly washed and cleaned a last time to prepare a thick gravy to which the tiny portion of the sauce from the simmered paws went added once almost ready, then the ruddy sauce went gently drizzled on top of the meat producing a wave of aroma and gently enveloped the entire room.

"Holy...Fuck...How? It smells just as good as Toshio's dish, only...Gentler?" the same student from before commented in awe.

"Red Braised Bear Paws, please enjoy." Izuku said once properly cleaned the plate with a piece of cloth and cut the paws' meat in thin slices with zero effort, as if to show the sublime tenderness the once tough meat now possessed and the delicate rosy colour still present in the innermost part of the meat.

Plates went rapidly filled in meat, not only for the judges though, but for the rest of the class as well, a sheepish Izuku could just give a shy smile and explain that in his haste to ' Avenge' the bear he prepared too much meat and that he would have hated to waste it.

"To prepare the meat he managed to cut it while perfectly following the direction of the muscle fibers...This is the job of a surgeon, not a Chef…" Minato said while studying the delicate and thin slice of meat he picked-up in great interest.

"The gravy's thickness and texture too is impressive. What school do you come from?" King 3 asked, honestly impressed.

"A Private tutor. As a Quirkless I always end at the bottom of the waiting list, after a while I stopped bothering and found a personal teacher and a sponsor." Izuku answered, shrugging.

"That's a damn fat shame, this looks amazing. What about the taste?" King 4 answered while taking a bite, and falling dead silent.

Sniffle! Sniffle! Sniffle!

Everybody's attention soon turned to Toshio the Meat King, and the fat tears falling from his eyes as he chewed his own portion, the boy was crying his eyes out and yet looked unable to stop eating, no matter the almost-physical pain that taste caused him.

"What?…" Yamato muttered as a dark sense of foreboding climbed along her spine at the sense of deja-vu the scene gave her.

"HOLY FUCK!" a student in the back was heard gasping in shock.

"It's soft! And tender! And the aroma is strong yet gentle…HOW?!" a girl added with wide eyes.

"Strong and gentle? You mean like the bear pride he talked about?...SHIT! He turned a Bear's Pride into a flavour?! You can do that?!" another said, talking with her mouth unashamedly still full.

The piping-hot piece of bear paw meat was topped with bits of chopped herbs and peppers while the red broth dripping from the pieces of meat exuded steam; the scent was fragrant, but not too dense. Spicy enough to tickle the nose without completely covering the inborn wild taste of the meat, but enriching it.

No matter how much one chewed, there seemed to be no end to the taste, it just kept coming and filling the mouth in its vigorous flavor, helped by the still chewy texture of the meat that even if really tender still maintained part of its springiness.

" Om nom nom… " Takeo the Vegetable King tried REALLY REALLY hard to ignore the loud munching sounds coming from the girl sitting next to him, valiantly trying to preserve the dignified image of Mako he had long since created in his mind ever since they went to the same middle school together all the way to the same University.

"Can you at least TRY to keep your composure, Mako-chan?" he begged.

"Shush!" the secret foodie answered, annoyed.

"How is it? How does my dish taste?" Izuku asked, watching Yamato struggle with her words once tried some herself.

"... Guh !" the old woman growled while glaring at him.

"Mother?" Minato asked.

"It's decent. As far as I am concerned, Toshio wins." she answered.

"…" silence fell into the room, a silence of pure disbelief.

"Mom…" Minato exclaimed with a disappointed sigh.

"Toshio wins, end of story."

"I lost," Toshio himself admitted right after.

"YOU!" the old woman roared in anger.

"IT'S TRUE! The meat is tender but not greasy; fresh, and does not smell…Its taste is simply amazing!" The Meat King admitted in tears.

He had seen it at the first bite already, the very bear they both had cooked, he saw it...HER...Rose to her hind legs and swipe down with her paws to crush Toshio with all her might, destroying him and his dish with a single strike and avenging her lost honor; he could not summon enough Pride to forcefully declare himself the winner, he just could not.

The flavor of the bear paws' meat lingered on his palate. It tasted delicious, and he almost lost himself to its flavor. Before that moment, he had never tasted such a unique flavor in his life, no matter how many experiments he did while cooking his beloved Bear Meat, that very same balance of tastes had always escaped him, and now with Izuku's dish, he had finally tasted it, and the bitter truth that HE could not reach that taste obliterated his pride as a ' Bear Meat Expert' and Meat King, hence the tears.

The entire classroom was filled with the LOUD sound of people munching still, and each one of them had an expression of bliss, or Greed if their plate was already empty and they were looking for more meat to gorge themselves with.

"The choice of Ingredient was a daring gamble, considering your Ingredient had been badly prepared too, but the technique displayed while cooking was nothing short of sublime. No matter the Pride I may feel as a student of Inoshiki myself, I am still duty-bound to judge objectively. This round is yours, Midoriya." Minato declared with a nod.

"TRAITOR!" his mother Yamato howled in fury.

"We second the motion. The Winner is Mister Midoriya." the other Kings declared as one after a short whispered conference between them.

"NOO!" Yamato roared.

"It was a given, Miss Rector. I hold no regrets." Toshio answered with a sorrowful expression while taking one of the knives he had used to cook his dish with and using a permanent marker to write his name along the blade before delivering it to Izuku.

"She was right, you are a damn Monster. Can I have a rematch sometime in the future?" he asked, meekly.

"I would be honoured." Izuku answered, both young Chefs exchanged a bow at that.

"DO IT IN PRIVATE! YOU ARE HEREBY OUT OF MY UNIVERSITY! I WON'T HAVE A SUBPAR LOSER RUINING MY REPUTATION!" Yamato's outburst shocked everybody, even herself, before turning towards her assistant.

"Tell me at least that nobody saw this shameful display during the livestream."

"Livestream?" Izuku asked.

"Livestream?" Minato also chorused.

"...Madame...We have fifty-thousand viewers…And more keep arriving." the poor assistant replied with a small voice.

"TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" the old woman ordered immediately.

"Immed- Uh?! W-We are no longer hosting it! I-I can't turn it off! Somebody hijacked the transmission!"

"WHO?!" she demanded, and the question made a couple Hackers from I-Island smugly flash their middle fingers at the screen while making sure more people were notified of the attack on Inoshiki Academy so as to add more viewers to the Livestream. Along making sure Toshio could find an acceptance letter for another Private University for Chefs already waiting for him when he will get home.

"I am out? Fair enough, I never liked it here anyway, working under a hag that believes we youngsters don't want to work hard it's a nightmare. I am chubby because I want to be and maybe because I eat too much meat, laziness and ' Ungrateful New Generations' have nothing to do with it. I'll just find another University that will appreciate my hard work." Toshio declared with his head held high while marching out.

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

"Piss off back in your pyramid, you mummy!" the former Meat King answered, unfazed.

"Hey! Destroy the others too, nothing personal, but if you throw Yamato down her high horse maybe she will become a bearable human." Toshio declared before slamming the classroom door closed behind himself and leaving the school with his head held high once retrieved his personal belongings.

"...Okay...MAYBE there were some buried issues between him and us." Fish King Sadao admitted, grimacing.

"I blame Mako, she is the one with an attitude." the Dessert King answered.

"HEY!" Mako answered, face red in annoyance.

"Little shameful display aside," Minato said while nailing his mother with a glare thankfully strong enough to silence her.

"We still have more Rounds to go through. You up for it, Mister Midoriya?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you. I would like to Challenge all the 5 Kings today before leaving and leave the Teachers and Yamato-san for tomorrow, if it's okay for you." Izuku answered with a nervous smile.

Everybody fell silent at that request, it was just too bold, too WILD, and nobody actually knew how to answer that besides gaping at him in shock.

"...Okay! We'll have a five minutes pause to clean everything, then we will continue with the next round: Chef Izuku VS Fish King Sadao." Minato declared, unsure, while the livestream chat exploded in awed comments.

Yamato instead could not help feeling something cold starting to form in the pit of her stomach, The System hoped it was Ulcer, but that was beside the point.