UA – Kitchens -

Blob! Blob! Blob!

Several big pots were bubbling softly while the content of each one finished simmering, all under the unblinking gaze of Lunch Rush that was straining his senses to catch every subtle variation both by eye and ear, all the while also keeping track of the overly-precise stopwatch he commissioned to the Support department of the school.

"…" Whatever Lunch Rush heard or saw, made his eyes narrow while lowering the fire of a mere fraction, and even if the change was infinitesimal, it seemed to made him happy as a soft satisfied hum escaped his mouth.

"Still cooking at this hour?" Nezu asked, as always appearing out of nowhere, but as a testament of his long tenure as part of UA staff, the Rat's sudden appearance didn't even faze him.

"Experimenting." Lunch Rush answered.

"Century Soup?" Nezu asked with a knowing smile, and enjoying the full-body flinch of the cooking Hero.

"Yes…" the other answered between clenched teeth.

"I heard that young man makes the Proto Version available only a single day a month and in limited quantities so to not have it overshadow the rest of his menu, compared to the proper version that instead will be up for purchase only once a year on Christmas day."

"Tch!"

"And it seems like that the waiting list for the Proto Version alone has already reached the six months mark." Nezu added, smile turning sharp.

"Grrrr!"

"Just joking. Come on, enlighten me." The short Chimera said.

"I've been trying to make again his Century Soup ever since the day he came here to cook, I ate both versions and have been trying to replicate the complete one every night since then."

"Explains all the equipment you asked Power Loader to make you."

"Hn!"

"And yet you failed." Nezu answered.

"Yes." The answer came filled in bitterness.

"I won't pretend to know all about the inner workings of cooking like a proper a Chef, but what is the problem?"

"Food doesn't work with me as it does with him."

"Yes, that's a complain I heard often when I dug around to see if he could be trusted to come here that time." Nezu answered, chuckling.

"I can't pile pork on beef on veal on chicken on tuna on salmon on vegetables and so on in a manner that tastes good… Not like he does, at least."

"But?"

"But I will discover how he does it and replicate it. Then I will make it better."

"As long as you don't overstep in your budget, you are free to spend your free time at your leisure. Good night, Rush." Nezu declared with a shrug while walking away.

"Goodnight."

"...A question."

"Uh-hu?" Nezu muttered, already half-way through the door.

"You did not try to talk that boy into working here, right?" Rush asked, with his narrowed eyes going unseen thanks to his mask.

"...Goodnight, Rush." Nezu did not answer, and just closed the door behind himself.

"Tch! You'll see. I will surpass that kid! How hard can it be?" Lunch Rush declared in distaste before returning to study the bubbling pots.

Meanwhile – New York – Early Morning -

Just as Matoi was dismounting his car to go opening his Restaurant and give start to the Inauguration celebrations, a very expensive car stopped right in front of him, and thanks to the darkened window, the man had no idea who it was in the back seats.

"Hidetaka Motoi, I assume." The woman on the back said coldly as soon as the window panel slid down.

"In the flesh, with whom I have the pleasure to talk to?" The Chef answered, warily eyeing the various bodyguards sitting with the woman on the back of the short limousine.

"My name is not important, what's important is what you can do for me." She answered, without even looking at him.

"I-"

"I assure you it would be in your best interest to listen." She cut him off, and one of those bodyguards flashed him the woman's identification as a High-Ranking member of the Hero Public Safety Commission, he also made sure Matoi could see the gun at ready under his own expensive suit.

The other bodyguards as well slightly shifted a bit so to 'casually' show their own guns.

"I see. I was not aware the HPSC had offices in America." Matoi answered, now on high alert.

"We do have a branch in every Japanese Embassy around the globe, so to offer support to our beloved countrymen everywhere." She answered.

"Yes…" It was clear Matoi did not believe that was the reason, but it was also clear that the woman didn't give a damn about the Chef's opinion.

"Then tell me, Madame. How am I supposed to be of help? I am not a registered Pro Hero." He asked.

"You are not, indeed. Unfortunately your Quirk has far too many weaknesses and limitations to be useful for that profession." The woman answered, making Matoi bristle in barely-withhold fury.

"What you can offer us, though, is somebody else." She then said, nailing him with an ice-cold stare from above her way-too-expensive sunglasses.

"One of my employees?" Matoi asked with a raised eyebrows.

"No, Mister Matoi. I want that Quirkless kid that is supposed to Challenge you today, during your daughter's birthday at your new Restaurant."

"You want that brat? Why?" Matoi asked.

"You are in no position to ask questions." One of the bodyguards answered with a deep and rough voice.

"...Sorry about that." Matoi answered between clenched teeth and not even trying to hide his ardent wish of hitting them or even just walk away.

"The reason why I want that kid is nothing of your concern. Just find a way to bring that kid to me, along his equipment, his pet and that robot of his. Do that and we will make sure no traces of your little escapade in Insurance Fraud are left anywhere, along the rest of the long, long list of your petty little crimes. Everything will be forever erased." The Woman said, turning Matoi's anger into pure fear.

"I-"

"We can ruin you, Mister Matoi. You and your precious daughter. Only I know how to erase forever your sins, and if you do not deliver me that kid, I will instead make sure everybody else will know about your dirty little secrets. It's your choice: YOU or HIM. But I am sure that just like everybody else, you will make the right choice."

"Yes...Madame…" Matoi answered, so pale he looked about to drop dead from grief alone.

"There are only two groups of people in Life, Mister Matoi: Winners and Losers. And we of the Safety Commission always Win, remember. Do as you are told, or pay the price." The woman declared while pulling back up the armored glass panel of the car's window as a way to end their talk.

"Good day…" The Chef muttered without any strength in his voice when he saw the woman leave him alone in the parking lot to think about how close his life was actually coming at crumbling to dust right under him.

With Izuku – Rei's Penthouse -

Contrary to Matoi's abysmal situation, there was a way lighter feeling in the air for Izuku's group, one filled in actual levity as Cathleen and her Assistant were once again Rei's guests for breakfast, and once again without the woman's actual invitation.

"So you will barge in here for free breakfast every day until Icchan will leave?" Rei asked, huffing annoyed.

"Yep!" Cathleen answered, between mouthfuls of breakfast.

"Thank you for all the autographs, Cath!" Izuku, on the contrary, was way too happy to add the numerous signatures the woman brought along to his collection.

"Eh! Those guys and gals were even too happy to oblige as a thank you for your BBQ! They didn't mind in the slightest." She answered.

"I am happy they enjoyed themselves, and I am sure Momo's friends will appreciate their own autographs too, especially Kaminari-san, he is a great fan of Elecplant." Izuku answered, chuckling at remembering Momo's retelling of how hard the boy begged her for one once seen the Hero being part of the group Izuku cooked for.

He also needed to remember to tell young Tsunotori that her aunt Cow Lady sent her best regards, he wasn't even aware the two were related, truth be told.

"Oh they liked everything, no doubts about it! And it worked splendidly for you too! You got good publicity and the attention of that moron of Matoi; today is the day, isn't it?" Stars and Stripes asked.

"Yes, just a couple of hours, actually. The Challenge will be right during lunch hour, and apparently between High Class Guests, Pro Heroes and Talent Scouts of other Hero agencies, as well as journalists, the place will be packed-full." Izuku answered.

"Oh-oooh! Exciting!" Cathleen answered, hyped.

"How do you feel?" Her Assistant asked.

"Nervous, of course, but not in a way I can't manage." He answered.

"You sure?" Rei asked, worried.

"I'll be fine, Rei, promise."

"I trust you!" She answered, hugging him tight as a show of support.

"I'll record everything, and I am certain some of my friends can Stream the Challenge as well for others to watch!" Cathleen added with a thumbs up.

"And knowing dad, several drones of I-Island as well will be there." Izuku mentally added, sighing.

Meanwhile – League of Villains – Pub Hideout -

There was a somber silence in the dingy pub as Dabi watched in contempt how Himiko lied on a beanbag boneless, giggling to herself and babbling something unintelligible under her breath while looking at the ceiling.

"What have you done? She usually at least tries to stab people when bored!" One of the new recruits, a guy wearing a full-body costume separated in black and white halves, asked in two voices, as if pretending to be two different persons.

"Hn? She was being annoying, so I spiked her lunch blood sack again, I just overdid in the dosage. But at least she is not bothering me now." He answered, opening a discarded magazine to a marked page, probably where he had stopped reading when he 'dealt' with Himiko.

"She is cute, too bad she just doesn't cooperate. You think she will notice if I steal a kiss?" Twice asked.

"She will come around, eventually, or she will die trying and we'll make a Nomu with her Quirk, same results. And about the kiss, do whatever you want, just be quiet about it, for some reason Shigaraki and Kurogiri still have to return from their turn at Grocery Shopping so there is some goddamn peace and quiet here and I DON'T WANT IT TO END just yet." Dabi answered, sneering.

"Oh fine. We'll be silent as a mouse! A dead mouse! Those are super quiet!" Twice answered.

"Bah." Dabi just gave a grunt as an answer, and rolled his eyes at the two voices giggling one after the other after stealing said kiss on the cheek from the baby-gurgling girl next to them.

"What is he? Twelve?" The Blue-Fire user thought in dismay, he really found his Colleagues unbearable, after all.

"Done! Done!" Twice declared, far too happy from such a simple thing.

"Whatever, just sit there quietly now."

"Okay! Oh fuck you, Edgelord!" Twice answered, before collecting a deck of cards from behind the bar counter to, somehow, playing a couple rounds of poker by himself against his other self.

"Eeeeh-Ehhh-Eeeeh!" Himiko in the meantime kept talking with whatever hallucination floating in front of her eyes with words too garbled to even resemble human speech.

"I feel like a fucking babysitter, not a Villain." Dabi muttered, grimacing.

SLAM!

The door being kicked open by a kick was sudden and was loud, enough both he and Twice almost died on the spot from a heart-attack, and when both turned around they saw a clearly battered Kurogiri dragging a bloody and beaten-broken naked body that they assumed was Shigaraki slumped on his shoulder; the fact that the mist-man had not opened a portal inside the pub but came there on foot told Dabi that the Nomu had very likely a concussion, as that was the only situation where the thing refused to use his powers.

"The fuck happened? The fuck happened?" And for once both Twice's voices said the exact same thing.

"Goddamnit, don't tell me!" Dabi said in dismay.

"I lost track of Shigaraki in the mall half-way through our grocery round, and when I finally found him he was about to jump that accursed Chef's girlfriend so to kill her...I didn't even see that Black Dog's paw attack both him and me until it was too late and we went shot out of the mall and into the underground parking lot." Kurogiri explained with a weak voice, dragging himself and Shigaraki inside using the very last shred of strength he had and then throwing the naked man on the floor while the Nomu collapsed on a cushioned seat nearby.

"...Wait...You went out for groceries six hours ago, I thought you two morons were just taking your sweet time!"

"We...We didn't." Urgh! "That...That blasted animal kept bouncing us for twenty minutes, randomly increasing the power behind his so-called 'loving caresses' to see how far we could go...He stopped only when we both lost consciousness and became boring to play with. I took Shigaraki here as soon as I woke-up. That dog had abandoned us in the back of a filled garbage truck." Kurogiri answered, and between his being tired, the clear humiliation he felt at being beaten and treated like literal trash, and the absolute, soul-burning hatred he had for Blackie and Izuku, his voice came out rasping and marred by growls.

"That dog you talked about? Fuck! I want to meet the thing and gut it!" Twice asked.

"The Dog, or as the fucker likes to call himself when talking in third person 'This Lord Dog', is unfortunately way stronger than what he looks. That piece of shit keeps sending us back in schedule, and just because that fucking moron of Shigaraki can't let go of his goddamn pride!" Dabi answered, face-palming with both hands so to muffle the scream of annoyance he released.

"It doesn't matter," Ugh! "The damages to my body are minimal, so we will still attack those Hero Students like we planned, no need to cancel." Nnng! "I already contacted Muscular, he will join us for the operation, do you think you can coordinate everything as we agreed?" Kurogiri asked, while still taking painful-sounding grunting deep breaths at random intervals.

"Yes I can do that, no problem." Dabi answered, sighing.

"What have you… I just hope Toga's brain had not been fried by whatever you did, we still need her." Kurogiri said, grunting loudly and forcefully pulling himself back to his feet to walk behind the counter and towards the telephone hidden there.

"She'll be fine, she'll be fine." The other waved him off, uncaring.

"Good, I will trust you on this." Ugh! "Now sorry, but I need to inform Master we need yet another round of emergency healing...And he won't be happy about it, so be quiet and do not make things worse." The Nomu said with labored breath.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll take my annoyance on those Hero brats, especially on your and Shigaraki's behalf." Dabi answered with a twisted, cruel smile.

"Thank you. Much appreciated." Kurogiri answered, actually sounding grateful for the offer.

And from whatever Void was there beyond the limits of Reality, too far removed from Existence for Mortal minds to even comprehend and perceive, The System watched.

And The System planned.

America – With Izuku – Parking lot of the restaurant 'The Symphony' -

The long and luxurious Limousine owned by Rei arrived with impeccable timing as the Lady of the Yaoyorozu Family had requested, with the chaffeur promptly opening the door while bowing to let Rei and Izuku dismount; Rei was, as expected from a woman of High Class like her, dressed with the finest and shiniest white dress somebody with a bottomless bank account could afford, decorated by a black shawl in pure silk loosely wrapped around her shoulders and reaching her elbows, she was also holding Shiro in her arms.

Izuku was of course wearing his dark-green chef attire, with a bandanna of matching green colour already tied on his head to cover his hair, albeit everything he wore had been updated for the occasion by The System, using the silk of silk worms from another world, and Izuku was actually afraid to ask how expensive his clothes were now once seen the otherworldly luster his updated uniform had in the right light now, and knowing his Sponsor, he was almost certain the answer would be utterly insane.

Like, superior to the GDP of some First-World country or something just as ridiculous.

"Here we are, I got a message from a friend already in there as a guest, they all are waiting for you." Rei said, tone tense in worry.

"Momo and Rumi filled my phone in messages to cheer for me, it seems I am not the only one worried about this." Izuku answered, taking a deep breath to stabilize himself, and calling upon his old experiences as Zaus of similar meetings to exorcise his fear.

"And…"

"...Ochako too, as well as Nejire…I...I didn't open those messages though." He admitted, grimacing.

"You all will resolve this once you are back in Japan. For now focus on this Challenge, focus on the Now instead of the 'What if'." Rei offered with a kind smile.

"I'll try… Those psychologists you forced me to visit both here and in Japan… The things they said, their suggestions... It's helping, you know?"

"Good to know, me and the others care about you, we just want to help." Rei answered, putting a hand on his shoulder to give it a light squeeze.

"I know… I know… Thank you." Izuku answered, giving her a small, tentative smile.

"We are family, Izuku, you are not alone anymore. And that means any weight we all have can be shared with everybody else if the burden is too much. Now let's go, it's time to face Matoi and remove yet another enemy from your list." Rei answered.

"Yes, you are right." Izuku answered, and as a proper gentleman, he offered his arm for Rei to latch on, for the woman's approving nod.

When the two entered the restaurant thanks to Whitey opening the overly-decorated glass double-doors for them, every eyes turned towards them, and silence fell inside the room, even the small orchestra performing from a side of the ample room looked very close at stopping to play their instrument when they saw him arrive.

"Perfectly on time, as I expected from both a Lady such as Madame Yaoyorozu and a proper Chef like you, Mister Midoriya." Surprisingly, it was Ego himself to welcome both inside the place, as the only one that not only was not still surprised at the idea of such a Challenge happening, but actually eager to see it happen.

"Mister Ego, glad to see you again." Izuku answered, shaking the man's hand.

"I was just trying to entertain myself while waiting for the actual Main Event of this dull morning: you showing me again your Art. But alas, the vainglory of a Pretender and his spoiled offspring was even more boring than I anticipated. If not for the knowledge that you were arriving, I would have already left. Come, I personally made sure the equipment had not been tampered with...The Ingredients, on the other hand…" The Food Critic said with a displeased frown.

"Hn?"

"They refused to show me what they prepared for this little game, and that doesn't sit well with me." Ego admitted, he was personally accompanying Izuku to the small workstation he will use in his challenge against Matoi, right in front of the identical one the owner of that restaurant will use.

"I am aware there is a very high chance he will try to cheat, I have been informed by a very helpful insider." Izuku admitted, recalling a certain phone-call.

"Cheating even, why I am not surprised! What a foolish incompetent! What will you do?" Ego asked.

"What any Chef is supposed to do: Bring honor and show respect to the Ingredients, no matter what conditions they are in, I will figure out a solution, don't worry." Izuku answered.

"I trust your judgment, and that is not something I often do when it comes to cooking. Good luck, Chef Midoriya." Ego answered, and walking away to reach his own seat.

"GOOD MORNIIING! HOW ARE'YA?! Ready to start this awesome Cooking Challenge?!" Matoi's daughter, acting as Host for the Challenge, and wearing an eye-watering red full body costume blatantly copying Cathleen's own as Star and Stripe, gave a way too "Young and Cheerful" Scream to the audience of a Challenge held in such a luxurious restaurant.

"As you know, both my Daddy and Him are expected to prepare three Dishes and present them to the judges to, like, show who's best, 'kay? So you judges need to choose and vote well, 'cause otherwise it will be cringe and totally ruin the mood, yes? So, you better not be lame and vote all professional and stuff, ya dig? We want honest votes, so, like, be rad and do your job! Thanks! As for my beloved Followers, remember to leave a like, ring the bell to stay updated about my exploits as a Pro Hero and follow me on Hero-Gram!#NewHero! #KickassLady! #AwesomeHeroPrincess! #DaddyBestFood!" The young half-American and half-Japanese woman said, still with an overly-cheerful voice that made even Cathleen and Rei shudder.

"Ugh!" Izuku merely grimaced, especially at seeing her take a selfie to promote the event.

"Please forgive her, my little girl is just so excited to take her first step as a Pro Hero, today is her Debut, you know?" And as on cue, Matoi himself came to the rescue of his little Princess.

"Charming." He answered, shaking the man's hand and easily ignoring the guy's risible attempt at squeezing his hand too tight as a show of intimidation, it was annoying how many tried that tactic.

"It happens when you are gifted and meant for greatness. So? Ready?" Matoi asked.

"Yes, I am. I wonder what Ingredients you prepared for me since you insisted in being the one personally preparing them for the two of us." Izuku answered, eyes half-lidded in annoyance.

"It was to assure fairness, you know? To avoid Cheating." Matoi answered, showing a sickeningly-sweet smile.

"Uh-hu. Sure. I'll pretend I will believe you." He answered.

"Nothing personal, kid, but there's my and my daughter's future on the line."

"Then you shouldn't have committed enough crimes to shame a Pro Villain." Izuku shot back, making the other freeze.

"…"

"I am well aware of all the crap you pulled, Matoi. You are using me to cover for those crimes, but unfortunately for you, I have no obligations to cover for you. It's time to act like an adult and face the consequences of your actions." He then said, merciless.

"I will bring here the Ingredients we will use." Matoi's smile was now officially dead and buried and a furious snarl took its place.

"Go, please. I don't want to stay here just as much as you don't want me here." Izuku answered, his old Zaus' disposition coming through when faced with Pretender Chefs, the worst insult a Chef could receive back in that Life he had.

"Can't wait to see you lose." Matoi whispered in hatred as he walked away.

"Same." Izuku answered, unfazed, and that almost made the other man trip in his own steps in surprise at the answer coming from a supposedly overly-nice kid like him.

"… Good enough?" Izuku then mentally asked, unsure.

"It was perfect, Host. That is how you answer to verbal attacks done to damage your self-esteem." The System answered.

"I don't really like it, though." The young Chef answered.

While he waited, he watched as several drones from I-Island had made their appearance just like he expected, and thanks to his father warning him, he knew that the two white vans parked in an isolated corner of the parking lot belonged to the island of researchers, there to keep an eye on him, as usual.

Unfortunately any other train of thought Izuku had derailed gruesomely once he received the four trays of miscellaneous Ingredients Matoi in person brought and set-up in front of him, it took to the young Chef barely a minute to check them all and grow horrified at what he saw.

"Host, the Ingredients have all been sabotaged, only an average of 10% of the mass of each one of them is actually usable for cooking." The System said, confirming his own suspects.

"That cheater! Did he do all this on purpose to the Ingredients?!" Izuku asked, he expected Matoi to give him the wrong Ingredients, or to ruin them a little like he had been warned about by Yamato and Ren Watanabe, but not even in his worst nightmares he expected to see Ingredients being violated like that!

"Indeed he did all this on purpose, Host. Host has two options now: Keep using these ruined Ingredients and salvage whatever possible to accomplish the three required dishes, or have the System switch them with good ones. But if the Host asks for a change, the Mission will still be considered a failure by the System even if the judges declare him the Winner, with all the dire consequences it will entail. Loss of Cooking Rights included." The Entity said.

"You don't even need to ask, it's not a matter of your Mission anymore! I am going to use them as they are as a way to avenge the Ingredients. They don't deserve this treatment just to satisfy the frail Ego of a moron!" Izuku answered with his eyes burning in anger.

"Good answer, Host. Now please, show this unworthy Pretender Chef what happens when one challenges a God of Cooking without having the required skills to even stand in their presence." The System answered.

"So? Are the Ingredients of your liking?" Matoi asked, smirking.

"They are perfect, thank you." Izuku answered, patting the closest tray in pure confidence.

"You sure?" The other asked with pure malice.

"You will see, they have a lot to offer, and I will prove it." He answered.

It may have been a trick of the light, perhaps, but Matoi could swear those unusable Ingredients he had given Izuku for a brief instant gained an unnatural luster, and a deep sense of dread let him feel like a cold and viscous hand had started gripping his heart to squeeze it hard.

With Izuku -

Even after saying all that, a tiny smudge of doubt still existed inside the young man's heart, but the longer he watched at the spray of Ingredients in front of him, the more the feeling of their Voice came through to reassure him; both Chef and Ingredients were literally cheering each other up in front of the near-impossible task.

The chickens in front of him were in a bad shape, worst than all the rest, so much even six of them could barely produce enough good meat to match a properly-prepared single one; The beef was slightly better, but that too had most of the meat badly processed on purpose, barely hiding its abysmal quality under a thin surface layer of still pristine grease and meat.

Same going for the vegetables and the fruits, even the wine had been switched, Izuku could tell by nose alone that a very cheap one had been poured inside the empty bottles of once high-quality ones, both reds and whites. All in all, many could easily call the whole spread unusable.

Unfortunately for Matoi, Chefs from the Gourmet World of Zaus were not normal Chefs at all!

"IT BEGIIIINS!" It was then that Matoi's daughter gave a scream signaling that both Chefs could start cooking.

SWIIIIIING!

And already going full-throttle, Izuku's Sea Dragon Knife twirled in his hand and then slashed down with speed far exceeding anybody's wildest imagination to cut, debone, and quarter beef and chicken meat in front of him in an instant, hard and fast enough a gust of wind got kicked-up...And the knife in Matoi's hand lost its own blade, that too cut into hundreds of thin slices, even if the man was at the opposite side of the room.

"Whoops. Sorry, I guess I was a bit too eager to start." Izuku said with a perfectly-believable innocent smile.

"It's...Okay…" Matoi, unblinking eyes still glued to the now bare handle in his hand, answered with a slow and terrified tone.

"Host, that was not an accident." The System said while Matoi shakily grabbed a spare knife to resume his work.

"No, it wasn't. But he deserved a little scare." Izuku thought back in answer while following the Voice of the Ingredients to select the quails between the small selection he was give that were not bad.

"Hn. Quite alright, Host." Now Izuku could swear it, he DID hear the Entity let-out a very tiny chuckle.

Returning his full attention to cooking, he went through the three recipes he and the Ingredients had agreed upon, again based on his feeling their Voice alone, starting by using some of the chicken meat he had managed to salvage into a mousse he planned to use together with minced beef in the same dish.

"Unfortunately for him, cheap wine may actually be the best choice for this dish, ironically." Izuku muttered, pouring a glass of red wine to give it a deep sniff, and once met the smug smirk of Matoi, return him one of his own that made Matoi wonder if he had given the young man a good wine by mistake.

"Relax, don't let him get under your skin! You are using the best parts of the best Ingredients money can buy! He got cheap Convenience Store ones you personally sabotaged! It would take a MIRACLE for him to pull off something good that won't poison the judges! You got this in the bag!" Matoi thought while removing and using only a small part of his own Ingredients, the very best part, and yet his sense of dread was not going away no matter how many times he hyped himself up.

I-Island -

"The color of that meat is off." Hisashi muttered, bristling in fury after zooming on the Ingredients with one of the drones' camera.

"The guy gave him bad stuff?" His colleague asked.

"Very likely. He was far too smug when he personally handed Icchan all that."

"Subject 37 does not register changes in mannerism. He is calm, 'Sashi. Your boy got this in the bag." One of the guys manning the drones and registering everything answered.

"God, I hope so." Hisashi muttered.

"He did worse! He had an entire Life-Time of Experience to pull from! He will win!" He then thought, with an almost praying tone.

"Madame?" Another technician said, confused.

"What?" The old woman at the head of the Darlings Project asked.

"We have been breached again by that System Inc. They are forcefully downloading in our main storage entire terabytes of proofs of past transgressions of Matoi...From Insurance Fraud, to bribes and death threats, for God's sake, they even got their hands on some camera footage of the man driving drunk, running over somebody and speeding away without stopping to give assistance. What do we do?" The technician asked, she just looked at her screen with bulged-out eyes.

"Can we track from where they are sending all that?"

"...No, Madame. They make it literally look like all those data just poofed into existence in our systems."

"Goddamnit, they are good. Keep monitoring Subject 37, in the meantime I want somebody to comb through all that to see what can be used against that man, if they sent it to us, it means others too may soon get the same gift, may as well be ready should they try to say we were covering for that Buffoon of Matoi." The old woman answer.

"Yes, madame!" Many technicians answered in chorus.

As she suspected in fact, that blatant display of cheating from Matoi did indeed gain him the enmity of the System that decided to not wait until the Challenge was over, but already started distributing copies of the man's closet skeletons to whoever would hear, Police Force and several newspapers HQ comprised.

New York – Restaurant The Symphony – With Izuku -

Having noticed how once recovered the few good parts still usable of the various chickens he had been given there was still not enough meat to prepare the two dishes he needed, Izuku decided to improvise, and switched the main component of one recipe with the quails, that he first pan-fried and then moved to the oven for some roasting.

"What is he doing?" Matoi, showing his proficiency by managing to both follow his own cooking and Izuku, watched in curiosity as the young man set to prepare a milky risotto with whatever scraps of chicken he had, somehow, managed to recover from the ruined exemplars he had at hand, and using butter to fry some onions.

When he saw Izuku mix together some Sherry Vinegar, a mixture of honey and granulated sugar and red wine together with some Madeira Wine his blasted Robot shamelessly borrowed from Matoi's cabinets, he started to have an inkling.

"Oyakodon?… With Quails? Whole?" He muttered, confused.

"Focus on cooking your own dishes, Matoi-san. Your future will depend on the result of this Challenge. Remember." Izuku had seemingly noticed his staring, because after putting some quail eggs to boil, he nailed the man with a side glance that held nothing but absolute contempt.

"Tch!" The man only answered with a snarl and a near-animal growl.

Outside the Restaurant – Parking lot -

"So?" The woman in expensive tailleur asked.

"Can't answer, madame, I am not exactly good a cooking." Her bodyguard, and the one actually holding for her the laptop showing the livestream of the Cooking Challenge, answered.

"You are completely useless." She spat in answer, conveniently forgetting she herself could be said to be unable to even just boil an egg.

"That kid seems to know what he is doing, though. Looking at Matoi instead, he seems nervous." Another Bodyguard said.

"Be ready to recover the kid ourselves, then. I don't trust that idiot to do as he was told and manage to bring the kid to us." She ordered.

"Yes, Madame!"

Not one of them could imagine that Shiro happened to see and listen to them even through the obscured glasses of their armored limo, from his place in Rei's arms in the crowd observing Izuku's challenge inside the Restaurant from the first row.

"It seems like this Esteemed Taotie found his snack for the evening." The small creature thought to himself, and then focusing once more on his Partner's current battle, far more interesting to the Taotie than some no-name nobodies plotting from the shadows.

Returning to Izuku, while quails and risotto kept cooking, the young man was also taking care of a second dish.

"First the duxelles..." He muttered, sauteing diced mushrooms and mushroom stems, onions, and herbs into a paste till nearly all the liquid was gone, reducing the aroma and intensifying the flavor to its absolute limit.

Still under the curious side looks of Matoi, for Izuku next came the preparation of a chicken mousse, made using some of the scarce tender chicken breast he had, some fresh cream and the duxelles, everything went mixed first by hand, then in a blender.

"I will add some stiffly beaten egg whites to the mousse too... To enhance the texture." The young Chef muttered.

As the beef finished cooking, the very cheap red wine went "reduced" as much as Izuku could so to extract and refine the flavor, so to combine it together with a demi-glace he was preparing at the same time.

(Demi-Glace: (literally meaning "half glaze") is a traditional French sauce made by reducing a mixture of Espagnole sauce and brown stock, then finishing with sherry wine. Due to the laborious preparation of the sauce, it is often made well in advance by professional kitchens. Unless you were a Super Chef from another world that could whip one out at the moment's notice.)

"Beef and chicken together? Is that how he plans to cover for the lack of quantities of both?" Matoi muttered, while giving the finishing touches to one of his own dishes.

With Rei and Star and Stripe -

"Hey, Cath?" A female voice said from the small auricular hidden in the Pro Hero's left ear.

"Hu-uh?" The woman muttered after taking the call by pressing a finger against the thing.

"Some movement outside the Restaurant, unfriendly, and they are not being subtle about it."

"What is it?"

"Uh?" Rei asked.

"A couple gentlemen and a few 'Bad Girls' are taking position around the Restaurant, and seem to be awfully interested in both you and your Chef friend. They are not missing a move of yours or his."

"They are, aren't they? Then I guess I'll need to meet them, can't leave some Fans waiting, can I?" Cathleen said with an annoyed tone filled in acidic sarcasm.

"I can see Elecplant get closer to us, so I guess you won't be alone in welcoming your Fans." The female voice answered.

"Sharing the spotlight never killed anybody, I am coming out and-"

"No need." Rei said, chuckling.

"Uh?"

"Troublemakers will be stripped as an example to others!" In that precise moment Whitey's eyes flashed red, and the robot moved with rapid and heavy steps outside.

"And you think the chubby toy can face...How many?"

"Seven Villains." the voice supplied.

"Seven guys alone and at the same time?"

"Dear Whitey has been built by Icchan's Sponsor to deal with far worse, have no fear." Rei answered, amused.

"I don't think that-"

BOOOOM!

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Everybody inside the restaurant turned towards the entrance from where they heard the blood-curling scream of the first of Whitey's victims come from, right on time to see the poor guy fly inside the place completely naked and with a face bloated to the size of a watermelon from the various slaps the robot delivered before stripping him and throwing him away.

"Kyaaaah!" Few women present looked away while covering their eyes with their hands once seen the poor athletic young man roll on the floor for a bit without a shred of clothes on his person, albeit the fingers of those hands also showed some suspiciously-wide gaps between them.

Other screams and tearing sounds soon reached inside as the one-sided 1v6 beat-down rapidly reached its conclusion, with the robot being the absolute domineering force in the battle that lasted barely a handful of seconds.

"Holy Shit!" The voice at Cathleen's radio yelled in shock and awe, a sentiment of surprise Star and Stripe found herself sharing.

"Daaaamn! I need to find myself a robot like him." Cathleen admitted, chuckling, while watching Whitey return inside without even a scratch so to stand behind Izuku like before, and the only reaction of the young Chef to all this was merely a chuckle and a friendly pat on the thing's soft belly.

"That will make extraction more difficult." The HPSC Woman's bodyguards thought at the same time in worry.

Back to Izuku -

"Eeeh, not enough butter and the lemons are in a bad shape too, can't make a good Lemon Cheesecake...Wait...Are those Japanese red beans?" Izuku, having finished the other dishes preliminary preparations, still lacked the final one: The Dessert, Matoi's own true area of Expertise, and probably the dish the man will most likely bet his victory on.

"What? Are you going to make some common Dorayaki?" Matoi asked with a mocking tone.

"Not really, but thanks for the suggestion! Thanks to you I had a rather nice brain-wave!" He answered, honestly happy.

"Goddamnit…I shouldn't have added those as a joke Ingredient!" The other instead cursed under his breath in vitriolic hatred.

Following the Ingredients' suggestion to choose the actual good eggs between the dozens of bad ones, Izuku rapidly mixed their yolk with bread flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

"Meringue…" Then came whisking the eggs' whites with sugar until peaks formed, and once added some Greek yogurt, the mixture went added to the treated egg yolks to create a fluffy compound the young Chef used to prepare small disks of pancake thanks to the molds already waiting inside a wide frying pan.

"Then the red bean paste." Then came a smooth paste of red beans he sandwiched between two disks of pancake, everything then covered by a generous layer of powdered sugar.

"That's it?" Matoi asked, confused.

"Huhuhuhu…" The soft, low chuckle of the young Chef seemed to lower the room temperature of several degrees.

"Not even in the slightest." Izuku answered, smile warm as the sun, but eyes cold enough to freeze people alive, it wasn't clear how he managed that.

SLAM!

Several types of chocolate then went slammed on the table, from powdered to blocks of it three inches thick, all spread in front of the young Chef, and soon reduced to chunks by few precise strikes of the Myriad Manifestation Mallet, with Izuku using the hammer's own properties to instantly freeze solid the chunks at each impact so to reduce everything into a paste yet.

Separating each type of chocolate in different bowls, he had them melt and added to each one of them a tiny bit of vanilla extract, and then left them all set aside to cool slightly.

"I am making something special, Matoi-san. Considering the kind of Ingredients you gave me, in order to make them justice, I will need to go further beyond!" The young Chef said once finished mixing flour, baking soda, and salt in a new bowl and beaten sugar, olive oil, and eggs into a light, fluffy cream in another.

"You youngsters and that Plus Ultra idiocy are really annoying." The other answered, watching in apprehension as the two bowls' content went mixed together to form a smooth batter that then went split into two bowls again.

"Please do forgive me if I still have hope for the future, I have not had time yet to sell my dignity and throw away my dreams in the name of another Michelin Star to add to the pile." Izuku answered, uncaring of the man's contempt.

"YOU!" Matoi spat in fury.

"Spare me you anger, Matoi! You and your friends are in the wrong, and if I will have to crush you all to finally have some peace and quiet in my Life, SO BE IT!" The young man answered, and even with tons of anger in his voice, his hands showed loving care while folding the different kinds of chocolate.

"…" Surprisingly, that outburst seemed to finally silence Matoi, long enough both he and Izuku could finish cooking.

DRIIIIIIIN!

When the timer of the Challenge finally reached the zero, a loud ring echoed in the entire restaurant, and as a proof of fair-play, both Izuku and Matoi lifted both hands to show they were not continuing to cook after the time ran out.

"Time's up, either you finished your plating or not, please deliver your dishes to the judges." Ego himself took the microphone from the hands of Matoi's daughter, all for her protests that easily fell on deaf ears.

"I can't wait!" one of the judges said with starry eyes at seeing the six dishes of the two Chefs being positioned in front of her by both contestants.

"Please introduce your dishes, Chef Midoriya." Ego asked, with the glint in his eyes scaring whoever knew how cruel the man could be when on duty.

"With pleasure. The first are Roasted Quails stuffed with Risotto and Eggs." Izuku answered.

"Quails… Stuffed with Risotto?" One of the judges said, cutting open the small bird's golden meat to watch mesmerized the creamy egg and risotto pool out delicately from the opening.

"It should have poured out everywhere while cooking, not waiting for somebody to cut the quail open…" Matoi muttered, and watching in dismay Ego and the actual judges eating everything with expressions of pure bliss.

"Not if you wrap it up with a cabbage leaf." Izuku answered with a cheeky smile.

"But it will still-"

"Matoi, shut-up for once. You gave me half-rotten Ingredients on purpose and we both know it, I had to work extra hard to salvage useful parts, so I am not in the mood to listen to a cheap bully." Izuku whispered harshly and once again silencing him.

"So rich! My God! The fried onions add so much body to the taste!" another Judge said in awe.

"UH?!"

"Here taste it," Izuku answered, handing Matoi yet another dish, having prepared portions for him too, out of spite mostly.

"I don't think I should." Matoi answered.

"Have no fear, contrary to you and Samui I have a sense of decency, I respect Food too much to purposely ruin it, try it." Izuku answered.

"Tch! Fine!" The other answered, with his sneer getting dashed to pieces as soon as he tried the quail in his plate.

"… H-How?" He asked, face showing only horror for the DIVINE taste now filling his mouth!

The Quail's meat itself had a crunchy skin offering only a token resistance before uncovering the buttery-soft meat hidden under it, savoriness and a faint gamely-undertone paving the road to yet another risotto of the young Chef Matoi KNEW he would need a miracle to match, with the taste of the eggs and the onions adding to its taste a level of body that by any means shouldn't even be possible, along the lone cabbage leaf used to contain the rice while cooking adding another slight crunchy feeling to accompany the silk that was the creamy risotto.

"THOSE WERE CHEAP CONVENIENCE STORE INGREDIENTS I SABOTAGED!? HOW!?" Matoi thought, not in anger, but in absolute fear as the Miracle he had thought would have needed to happen for Izuku to actually have a chance was apparently happening right in front of his eyes!

"I had to strain myself quite a bit to find the good parts of everything you gave me. I have to recognize your talent at least in that, you were good at ruining everything, just not good enough." Izuku whispered with a knowing smile.

"You… You could scrap-out good parts from that?… Who are you?!" He asked with a whisper full of terror.

"I was once called The King of Cooking. Take a guess how I did it." Izuku answered, and without giving him other details, he went to recover the second dish he made.

"Simply amazing. The next dish?" Ego asked.

"Here it is. I call it Beef and Chicken Duet, with demi-glace." Izuku answered.

"A Chicken mouse and grilled beef wrapped in a manner similar to a Beef Wellington, very curious dish, if I can say. But it does look exquisite." Another Judge said, admiring the cross section of the dish he made after taking a slice away from his portion.

"The rosy color of the beef as well is simply perfect," The woman next to him added with an appreciative humming.

"And the demi-glace in scent alone is mesmerizing, it's making my hunger spike, I say we try it now!" Another Judge declared, her eyes almost sparkling in wonder and hunger.

"… MMMMMMMMMH!" And to the audience's surprise a LOUD chorus of pleased moans soon came from the judges that gained an expression of contentedness upon tasting Izuku's creation.

"… How do you make the chicken mousse become so smooth?" Matoi asked with a small voice, his half-eaten portion was looking back at him with his own stomach begging for him to finish eating like in a very poor joke at his expenses.

Even the wrapping around the two kinds of meat was astonishing, and the knowledge that it was supposed to be made with cheap ingredients kept stabbing the man in the guts, that stuff was supposed to be good enough just to make AT BEST cheap pastry… Not whatever impossibility was now in those plates!

"Lots of hard work, Matoi. Maniacally experimenting day in and day out. I spent months trying every variation I could think of to create new versions of existing recipes so to give them my own personal twists, and all that experience never failed to help me, even now." Izuku answered with a fond smile at those memories of another life.

Matoi could barely understand that, as he too spent most of his early days as a student and cooking apprentice under several famous Chefs with his nights devoted only to study and develop new cooking techniques so to find his own path and style, until he finally found his own Cooking Path… Problem was that Izuku was technically still a teen, the same age Matoi was when he was still deep into his own studies! Somebody that young couldn't be that good unless one was reading a Cooking-Oriented Shonen! HisAge and Experience were not matching!

"Who did you put us against, Samui? What have you done?" The man thought in dread while looking at the young man standing next to him.

"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus, Matoi. Never tickle a sleeping Dragon." Izuku said, as if reading the man's thoughts.

"We didn't tickle a dragon, we damn well poked one in the eye…" The other muttered, looking miserable.

"Pretty much." Izuku answered, shrugging.

"A perfect balance of Beef and chicken, Mister Midoriya. This creation of yours is simply marvelous." The Head Judge said.

"Thank you, sir."

"And now, we only need to try your last dish before moving to taste the ones made by Mister Matoi."

"Of course, Sir. Here is my dessert: The Princess and the Pauper: A Checkered chocolate cake with four different kinds chocolate (From 15% to 75%) and a red bean confiture, and a Dorayaki-inspired pancake cake with red bean paste filling." He answered, smiling gently.

"In case somebody missed the meaning behind the name: The original story is about a Princess switching place with a Peasant that happened to look exactly like her so that both could try living the other's life for a day… The Red Bean paste and confiture represent both Princess and Pauper," He then said, looking at Matoi with a more cheeky smirk.

"I got the reference, I am not an idiot, thank you." Matoi answered between clenched teeth.

"So fluffffyyyyyyy!" One of the female judges gushed like an excited kid, she had started with the more simple pancake cake, even holding a hand on her cheek like a young girl would.

"Look at the checkered inside! Such perfect lines! And the pattern of squares of chocolate and red bean confiture is just so precise it seems made by a 3D printer, not human hands!" a male judge said instead, studying each square of the cake and growing amazed by the precision.

"As I had warned you about, Monsieur Matoi, you were about to bite more than you could chew with this Challenge. You definitely had more pressing matters than worrying about my own review of this...Restaurant...Of yours." Ego said, showing the same cruel smirk many of his victims came to dread.

"You knew…" Matoi said.

"You mean if I knew he would have come here to Challenge you today of all days? Why, yes! After all I was the one to suggest it."

"WHY?!"

"I never liked your so-called Style, Matoi. All Gleam and no Substance, all SHOW and no EXPERIENCE, that is what never took you beyond a passable 8/10 in my many reviews. Your food is merely good and pretty to look at, but nothing else remains of the experience. In fact, if I had to recall a single dish I ate that you made, even I wouldn't be able to tell which one I ate when, they all would just blur together as a mere Good Lunch or Good Dinner." The Critic answered, cruel just the way he liked.

"And the kid?!"

"I believe I will remember the taste and presentation of that plate of 'Fire-Filled Carp Dragon' soup to my dying day. Does this answer your question?" The other answered with a tone of mockery.

"I am glad you liked it, Meng Hao-san took great pride in that dish, so I am happy I could make it justice." Izuku added, smiling happily at the praise.

"You...You…" Matoi was clearly furious, to the point of insanity.

"Come on, daddy! You can totally still win! Like, you are the Shit! The Goa-" His daughter said.

"CAN YOU TALK LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN FOR ONCE?!" He snapped.

"D-Daddy?" The young woman said, shocked by the furious anger.

"Screw the Challenge! SCREW THE DEAL! AND SCREW YOU!" Matoi roared, and storming off towards his personal office in the back of the Restaurant.

"...What happened?" Rei asked, looking lost.

"That moron has just admitted defeat, deep inside at least." Cathleen answered, looking with narrowed eyes as the man was apparently destroying his small, going by the sound of furniture being smashed to pieces that could be faintly heard.

"I mean… His Beef Wellington is damn good, but, the smoothness of the chicken mousse just adds that certain something to Mister Midoriya's dish that just pushes the dish' taste farther." The Head Judge admitted, uneasy.

"Same with the Quails, Mister Matoi's Blue Swimmer Lobster Risotto is definitely one of the best I have ever eaten, but that quail meat and the fried onions, the meat is just so tender and buttery!" Another said.

"So you would have chosen Mister Midoriya as a winner had Matoi not thrown his little tantrum?" Ego asked.

The five judges looked down in shame, faces red and frowning, all for the audience's confusion.

"...Matoi paid you to vote for him, don't you?" Rei asked, sneering, and the visible flinching those five people went through was all the answer everybody else needed.

"…" Not one of them had the strenght to either confirm or deny that, even lifting their heads to meet everybody's disappointed eyes seemed impossible now for them.

"Figures." Izuku said, shaking his head in sadness.

"Completely shameful, not just the cheating, but the foolish lack of trust in his own abilities that had that idiot cheat in so many different ways." Ego answered, face-palming in disbelief.

"M-M-My Daddy is the best! H-H-He doesn't need to cheat!" The man's daughter tried saying, horrified.

"Apparently he does, kiddo." Cathleen answered, shaking her head and nearing Izuku.

"And I think that even had he not gone through all the trouble to set-up his farce, Matoi would have lost all the same, Lil Bro. I know this, You know this and Matoi knows this. So, don't feel sad, he did this to himself." Cathleen then said, grabbing both Izuku's shoulders to show him a wide, proud smile.

"Thank you, Star." Izuku answered.

"Isn't that right? Or you still want that bribe he promised you and lie so blatantly to our faces?" She then asked to the judges, who did the impossible and had their faces turn even redder.

"...All in favour of voting for Midoriya's Victory?" The Head Judge asked with a weak, whimper-like whisper of voice.

"… Aye." The others answered in chorus.

"The System finds this vote inconsequential in front of the System's own evaluation of the Dishes, but The System knows Host Izuku deserves the recognition of those fools as well. Small matters aside, The System congratulates the Host for winning yet another Challenge, the promised Prize for the Success of this Mission will be delivered upon the Host's return to his Restaurant." The System declared with a short victory jingle that made Izuku chuckle.

"It's over, finally…" The young man muttered with a sigh of relief.

"Another name down, he has almost done." Rei as well exhaled in relief.

"MIDORIYA!" It was then that Matoi made his return with a loaded gun in one hand, his phone with a message from Samui telling him his life was over, and complete madness shining in his eyes.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Many screamed in fear and threw themselves on the ground in fear of the armed madman.

"Drop your gun, Matoi!" Cathleen ordered, moving to stand between Izuku and him to protect the young man.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! HE RUINED MY LIFE! IF I HAVE TO GO DOWN, HE WILL GO DOWN WITH ME!" Matoi shrieked with wide, bloodshot eyes, that gun's handle was faintly smoking due to the man being so out of it to even lose control of his Quirk.

"Troublemaker!" Whitey once again showed speed unfitting of his bulk as he flash-stepped in front of Matoi, grabbed the man's gun and hand in a grip so strong both things went mercilessly crushed into a pulp, and lifted him by the neck with his other big hand.

"Killing Intent towards the Host detected! Stop at once or you will be terminated!" The Robot, now with his eyes flashing purple, ordered.

"NO!" Matoi answered, grabbing the robot's face with his sane hand to try and burn it off, and growing scared at feeling his Quirk having no effect on the robot.

"WHITEY! NO!" Izuku ordered immediately.

"Termination cancelled by Host's Order. You shall be stripped as an example to others!" The Robot switched into red eyes, teared away every shred of clothing away from Matoi's body…

BOOOOM!

And delivered a devastating punch to the naked man's face that buried him deep underground with a completely destroyed face, and even if now blood was dripping down from Whitey's closed fist, the man was at least still alive, even if reduced into a wreck.

"Good God, this was supposed to be just a damn cooking challenge." Cathleen muttered with a groan.

"I know, but this sort of things just keep happening." Izuku answered, looking ready to start crying.

"It's okay, Lil' Bro. You relax now, this has officially become a job for Pro Heroes. I'll take care of clean this mess up, then we'll have a small celebratory dinner party at my Agency, okay?" Cathleen offered with a friendly smile.

"Sure." He answered with a small smile.

"Good."

The Next Day – Airport -

There was a very thick air of sadness as Cathleen, in civilian Alter-Ego, and her Assistant accompanied Izuku and Rei to the airport, so to give the last goodbye to both before the Yaoyorozu Family's personal jet brought them back to Japan.

"So… It's time for you to leave already?" Cathleen asked, with sad puppy eyes.

"I have a Restaurant to return to, Cath. I can't leave it behind." Izuku answered, and grunting alittle when the Pro Hero hugged him super hard.

"You sure I can't bribe you into remaining here? I assure you wouldn't lack customers!" She said with a childish pout.

And the small group tried valiantly to ignore various American Pro Heroes blatantly watching them from afar with various degrees of sadness on their faces.

"Awoooo…" With Super Soldato whining loudly with his wolf ears pinned down.

"Nothing says you cannot come to visit me in Japan!" Izuku tried saying.

"I might actually do that, Lil Bro! SO just keep a table free for me, 'kay?" Cathleen asked.

"Of course!" Izuku answered, finally returning the hug with gusto.

"Good."

"...Cathleen?" He finally asked.

"Yes?"

"You really meant it last night? When you said I could have been a good Hero?" Izuku asked with a soft voice.

"You would have needed to work super hard, but you could have had the same chances of anybody else. Probably you wouldn't have become a Legendary Hero without a Quirk, but you still would have been a very good one." Cathleen answered, ruffling his hair.

"Thank you Cath...And...I have left a present in your Agency this morning before we left, I hope you don't mind." Izuk answered, with his eyes very cloudy by his tears.

"Thank you, Lil Bro. Now go, before some Japanese Heroes really start thinking we are trying to steal you from them." Cathleen's Assistant said, she too with a sad smile.

"Thank you for everything," Rei said.

"Thank you for not minding all the free breakfast I had!" Cathleen answered, laughing.

"Oh! I did mind!" Rei answered, joking, laughing just as loud.

Having bid their final goodbye to their new friends, Cathleen and her Assistant returned to the Star and Stripe's Agency to find a big box waiting for them on one of the tables of the cafeteria, and on top of it, a letter from Izuku.

"There it is! I wonder what he left for us!" The Pro Hero's Assistant said with a wide smile.

"There is a letter, let's see what our friend has to say." Cathleen said, reading the short missive aloud.

"Miss Cathleen," the letter said.

"I thank you for all the help you gave me and for the encouragement about me being Hero material when even All Might said I had not what it takes. Even if I am determined to continue on the path of the Chef, your words lifted a giant weight from my shoulders, and I will never thank you enough for that. You ARE my Hero." the American Pro Hero said aloud.

"Aaaw, he is such a sweetie." the woman's Assistant said with a touched expression.

"For this reason, beside inviting you to lunch in my Restaurant should you happen to be in Japan, there is also ANOTHER dish I made with Cointreau. I am sorry if I could not give it to you sooner, but to make it properly it needs at least two days of marinading. The box should have kept it at optimal temperature, otherwise, I have left detailed directions for your Assistant to warm it properly and not ruin texture and flavor.

Thank you very much for helping me, and for showing me that there is somebody out there that believes Heroes do come in every shape.

With undying respect, Izuku Midoriya, Chef of Green Cloud Restaurant.

Ps: the Dish is called Duck a L'Orange. And Rei-san too sends all her love."

"Another Cointreau Dish? He likes to flex on his naysayers!" the Assistant declared, snorting amused.

"Bwahahahahaha! That he does! Worthy of being another lil Bro of mine! Come on! Let's try it now!" Star and Stripe answered, amused.

"Aye, aye! Luckily as he said the box kept it warm...Let's taste this duck, with two days of prep work, it must be hellishly good." the other answered, dividing the content of the big box into two plates.

"Wow me again, Lil Bro! Show me again how my precious Baby can work in the kitchen!…" Cathleen said with a wide smirk as both women gave a bite to their portion at the same time.

"…"

"…"

"….Do you want me to organize a fly to Japan?" the Assistant muttered with an expression of awe.

"HELL YEAH!" Cathleen replied before wolfing down her portion of duck with the grace of a piranha.

All things considered, Izuku enjoyed his time in America, incidents or Villain attacks or whatever, he still brought back good memories.

And not even the blatant threats of a certain Teka Todoroki he met at the Japanese airport as she was about to take her own private jet soured his mood, no matter what she said to try and have him become her personal Chef, he just told her no a couple dozen times, and when it was clear she was not stopping bothering him but seemed ready to use serious threats to have things go her way, he just jokingly poked her belly and winked at her before walking away.

"This isn't over yet, boy!… And what does Śūnyatā even mean?!" Teka hissed in anger, with her lava-made hair burning even brighter.

"It means that you will soon learn manners! Have a nice trip!" Izuku answered, smiling even too cheerfully while waving at her as he left.

Hidden in the shadows, Enji Todoroki, Pro Hero Endeavor, watched in glee as his mother (That he pretty much hated and stopped talking with at the death of his biological father) Managed to piss-off the ONLY guy Enji actually respected/Kind-of-Feared enough to have that accursed Evil technique used on her.

"Serves you right, 'Mother'! Hahahahaha!" The man said to himself before letting go of the thundering laugh bubbling in his chest.

He had once again dodged Teka during her annual visit to Japan she was still stubborn enough to attempt, so to show she cared about Enji, and the Pro Hero was all too eager to see her leave again for whatever Luxurious Resort her current ATM Husband will take her too, but watching Izuku unknowingly administer some Justice in Enji's name made sure the Hero number 2 of Japan will pay Green Cloud Restaurant frequent visits to repay the owner's kindness, too bad leaving tips was frowned upon in Japan, Enji thought the young Chef really deserved a reward for good service.

"I really hope she will enjoy her six hours flight now!" Enji said, with a sinister smile.

High in the sky -

PROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Teka! Darling, you okay?!" The owl-headed man asked, worried and horrified.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND BRING ME MORE TOILET PAPER!" Teka screamed in misery, like a wailing ghost.

PROOOOOOOOT!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

With Izuku -

"Aaah! Finally back home!" The young Chef said after having took a huge breath of the air inside his beloved Restaurant.

"MEEEEOW!" Zaphyr had immediately jumped in Izuku's arms, purring contentedly at having his Partner back.

"Hi, Zeph! Did you miss me?" He asked.

"Meow." The Pheline answered, rubbing his head under Izuku's chin, making him laugh and pet him just as hard.

"Welcome back, kiddo. This Lord was starting to wonder when he would have had his beloved noodles again," Blackie said, chuckling.

"Huhuhu! Never! This is my home and I will never leave it! Give me a minute and I will make you some before going to bed, I have a young Unicorn I want to say hello to." Izuku answered, chuckling.

"Good kiddo, how was your time in that other land?"

"Eventful, but nothing too extreme. I had fun, actually."

"Good to know. Wastes of time help nobody." Blackie answered,

"Eeeh…" Izuku answered, and another beep from his phone caught his eyes.

"Welcome back, Izu. I missed you." It was a message of Momo, and seeing that made Izuku's heart beat faster and a pleasant warm spread in his chest.

"I missed you too." He replied, adding a heart to it…

Then he saw the unopened messages of Ochako and Nejire, and reminded himself he still had a rather big issue to resolve, one he was very afraid to face, but that he knew could not be postponed further.

"After their Training Camp. We'll finally fix this after their Training Camp. I just hope Rumi and Momo know know what they are doing." Izuku muttered, uncertain.

And while all this happened, The System watched as everything was ready for the next Event, every pawn in place to assist Izuku in taking the next step in his path as God of Cooking, all according to the Entity's schedule to assure its beloved Host followed the most optimal path, so that all would only depend on his own skill, instead of outside interference.

And that same Summer Camp will actually play a key part in it.

Later - America - While Izuku was asleep in Japan -

"That fool failed! I can't believe it!" The woman working for the American branch of the Hero Public Safety Commission cursed to herself in vitriolic hatred while opening the door to her luxurious apartment. frowning in annoyance at losing her ticket for the promotion she had been pining after for years.

"Oh, they may have arrested Matoi already for his stint about shooting a Pro Hero, but I will ruin him still! I will pile on him all the bullshits he pulled the newspaper did talk about yet!" She growled, roughly opening her fridge to collect some beer.

"That brat won't escape me forever! I will get him and hand him over to the big guys at the top, and get myself out of this cesspool! A Brat, a tincan and a couple of fleabags in exchange of a new strings of zeroes to add to my paycheck! Why would I miss this opportunity!" She spat angrily, finally entering the living room of her apartment furnished in an overly-modern style.

"Oh, you will miss it, Darling. You will miss that and much more." Shiro said with a mocking tone, he was lying on a leather couch by the giant windows of the penthouse, with his pure-white fur contrasting heavily with the pure black of the couch.

"The brat's pet? ..." The woman muttered, trying to discreetly moving towards the gun she had hidden nearby.

"Indeed it is I. You see, you were planning to use my beloved Partner to fullfil your pitiful ambitions. And this Esteemed Taotie is not about to let the first weakling passing-by use my egregious persona or my Partner just to climb some silly Corporate Ladder, just because you think you deserve more nd that your are not being given the respect you deserve." Shiro said while stratching lazily.

"So? What are you going to do about it?" She asked, the gun was almost in her grasp...

"I will kill you, of course. You see, my Partner prefers a more Heroic approach, me instead, I like Threats to be gone forever, so that they won't plan from the shadows and gain the upper-hand from some stupid stroke of luck. Needless Drama is called needless for a reason. And to be sure, I will devour you completely, for everybody involved, you will just disappear without a trace, nobody will ever know." Shiro answered, chuckling.

"THEN EAT THIS FIR-" The woman screamed, grabbing the gun and turning around to shoot the Taotie, only to see the small thing already puncing on her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

And as Shiro promised, nobody ever discovered a thing, for all parties involved, she just disappeared into thin air, without leaving a single trace behind, while Shiro simply returned to Green Cloud Restaurant to enjoy his life with his Partner Izuku, without any random nobodies planning from the shadows ready to seek revenge.

Omake Time: Dimensional Ingredient Hunting: A new Krakenlicious Menu!

Palace Ruins -

There was an air of despair and anger in the ruined room that used to be a palace of sort, the throne room to be precise, and the assortment of people there were all looking in anger at the wall where used to be a portal just an instant ago.

"Okay! First we defeat Belos the Emperor, that happened to be a human, and force him to run away.

Then we go on with our lives until we fought hi again saw the guy 'die', THEN later we discover that the Emperor was NOT dead as we thought, but hiding in the shadows to organize his revenge through all the messes we had to get through until now, one of which ALMOST KILLED HUNTER AND FLAPJACK, and now that we defeated him AGAIN after several battles between him and us, and in a way that took away his new monstrous powers and turned him back into being a normal human, he escaped to the human realm with a one-way portal NOBODY knew about...Right?" The only human of the group said with a tone warning them that she was very close at having a nervous breakdown.

"Yes, Luz. That's pretty much it." The girl's girlfriend said, sighing and gently rubbing her back.

"...WHAT THE FRICK?!" The other shrieked.

"Yeah, girl, that's pretty stressful." Eda answered, shrugging.

"You are bleeding, Edalyn." Lilith said, worried.

"I know I lost an arm again, Lily. I know. It will pass soon." She answered, rolling her eyes.

"Soon nothing! Let me fix those bandages, they are far too loose!"

"It was a rush job to-"

"HUSH!"

"The fact remains we need to chase him." Hunter said.

"How?! We don't have another portal! Unless we try asking The Collector for one!" Willow answered.

"No. We are not doing that! King is barely enough to keep him entertained enough to keep him out of the way! We are NOT giving the psychotic and overpowered child something else to focus on now that we miraculously defused him! We just need to find Belos before things escalate in a way that everything becomes some 'Final Fight for the sake of the world' crap!" Eda yelled.

"Then what?" Amity asked.

"We need to follow him! Even as a human he may still be a threat!" Luz answered.

"Yes, but how?! You can't just punch a hole in realit-"

BOOOM!

As if to answer Gus, a pure-white tear in reality opened to let something flying-out at impossible speed, thanks to a big robotic hand punching forward through the same hole in Time and Space, and whatever the thing had punched, it slammed against the wall at the opposite side of the room so hard the bullet remained stuck into it like some ugly piece of modern art.

"Troublemaker dealt with." Whitey declared while walking through the portal with heavy steps.

"Ok, that thing CAN punch a hole in Reality instead." The poor boy added with a weak chuckle.

And as soon as Izuku as well walked out of the portal Shiro opened for the group, in a Magical School nearby every member of the Seer Coven started screaming in horror mid-lesson as they all unwillingly had a vision of him and the System's arrival, and got harshly punished for their peeping by the Entity itself with a blinding headache and the madness-inducing shattered vision of an indescribable Eldritch Being looking back at them with infinite beastly eyes and harshly punishing their "Blasphemous" curiosity.

"There we go, this should be the place. Thank you, Shiro." Izuku said, and helped Ochako walk out of the portal that closed soon after.

"Kyun!" the Ancestral Taotie answered with a proud melodious call from the young Chef's shoulders.

"Sure getting attacked by a robed weirdo as soon as we arrived is not a good start." Ochako answered.

"I saw worse, and the guy had a glass jaw, Whitey took even shorter than usual to deal with a threat."

"…"

"… Is that Belos?" Lilith asked with a weak voice once seen the destroyed face of the guy they were trying to hunt down, now stripped near-naked and with his face looking more similar to minced meat, and at the ugly smiley-faces-printed boxers he was apparently wearing under his clothes.

"Why is he in his boxers?" Luz asked, utterly confused.

"Troublemakers are stripped as an example to others!" Whitey answered.

"Strip-WAIT! Is that an Abomatron?" Amity asked.

"Never seen a white one." Lilith answered.

"You opened a portal to here? How?!" Luz asked.

"What animal is that?" Willow asked next while pointing at Shiro.

"Who in Titan's name are you?!" Hunter asked next.

"… I guess I will need to explain." Izuku said with a groan while face-palming, by now able to recognize when a Dimensional Sortie started BAD.

Two hours later – Eda's House -

"And here I am." Izuku said after having finished his tale, he had also prepared some snacks for the group of warriors he had unknowingly helped fixing everything ahead of time, once again derailing the course of Fate by helping wrap things up a lot sooner than planned.

"So you can open portals freely? Just like that?" Lilith asked, shocked.

"Not me personally, my Sponsor sent me to your version of the Human World with a portal, then my Pet Partner Shiro opened a new one to here, my actual destination. But yes, I do often travel to other worlds, visiting other dimensions helps broadening my scope as a Chef." He answered.

"Never seen such a display of resources just for cooking." Hunter admitted with a whistle.

"I live a very peculiar life, yes." Izuku answered, chuckling amused.

"Oh my Titan! Best rock berries sandwich I have ever eaten!" Gus said in awe, and his mouth still full.

"Thank you! Your land's wood troll meat goes surprisingly well with that once properly treated it." Izuku answered with a big smile.

"Wait! So you are a human that travels to other dimensions?" Luz asked with wide eyes.

"Icchan has been doing this for quite a while, yes." Ochako answered.

"No way!"

"You do know that the way you explained the mechanics behind it makes it go against every possible Law of Magic we know of?" Lilith said.

"...Eh." Both teens answered with a shrug.

"Ehehehe! I like that answer." Eda admitted, chuckling.

"And what kind of Ingredients or recipe brought you to the Boiling Isles?" Amity asked.

"I was asked to create a couple of Kraken-based recipes, nothing too complex." He answered.

"Kraken? That's a fancy Ingredient!" Gus said with a whistle.

"And hard to come-by! You can usually only find parts of baby Kraken in the market, and they all are insanely expensive." Willow added, worried.

"Adult Krakens taste bad?" Izuku asked.

"Nope, they do taste very good, or so I am told, it's just a suicide to hunt one!" Amity answered.

"Oh, but you did hunt one already?" Ochako said.

"Yes I did, but I guess I do need a suitable partner for the ones I captured alive to breed a new species to use as an Ingredient, soon the younglings will be old enough for breeding, and this world's version of the Kraken is probably the best choice for that, a compatible species." Izuku answered.

"Just be careful." She said.

"Always, Occhan." He answered with a reassuring smile.

"Hello? You heard that? It's dangerous to hunt Krakens!" Luz said aloud.

"I know what I am doing, don't worry." Izuku answered.

"No, you don't!" Lilith answered, appalled.

"We agree to disagree then," The Chef said, chuckling.

"Any idea where we can start looking for one?" Ochako asked.

"Eh! Not many, unless you plan to go fishing in what they jokingly call The Sea of Nightmares, not many places are accessible enough for a guy to privately go hunting for Krakens, every other place is own by fishing companies." Eda answered, laughing.

"Sea of nightmares it is then, I don't have time to waddle through legal red tape." Izuku answered with a scrunched nose and walking towards the door.

"Hopefully it won't be THAT BAD." Ochako added, sighing.

"ARE YOU TWO INSANE?!" The others yelled, and several circles and glyphs were drawn to magically seal the door shut.

"No, I am just a Chef on a mission...Eh...Shiro-kun, please?" Izuku answered, only to look at the sealed door with a raised eyebrow.

"Tch! Weaklings." The Taotie answered, shocking the others by quite simply tearing the blockade apart like paper with a playful paw pat of his.

"Thank you, Shiro! Well, see you tomorrow! Your school is called Hexside, yes? I may need to borrow their cafeteria kitchen for my test dishes if I can't find any other place, I hope it won't be a problem. Bye!" Izuku said, closing the door behind himself after Ochako and Whitey as well exited the place.

"…"

"That guy can't possibly pretend to go to the Sea of Nightmares, catch an adult Kraken and then return here, all in one day and alone." Lilith said, sighing in dismay.

"We must stop them!" Luz yelled.

"We can try, but that Robot thing of his and that strange pet worry me." Amity answered.

"They will understand if we talk this out!" Willow added, frantic.

"…"

"Eda? You are awfully quiet." Hunter said.

"…" The woman just drew a circle in the air, and a small wooden owl head appeared from the floor.

"…"

"HOW?!" Lilith shrieked.

"My magic is back…" Eda answered, looking at that wooden owl head with uncertainty.

"Wha?!" Raine gurgled-out while mid-choking on their sandwich.

"HOW?! NOTHING IN THIS WORLD CAN RETURN MAGIC TO A WITCH THAT LOST IT!" Lilith screeched, unable to comprehend the impossibility she was witnessing.

"Who cares!? I am back, baby! And I can still turn into a sexy harpy too! I got the best of both worlds, ha-ah!" Eda answered, laughing insanely happy and summoning owl heads celebrating her return with an actually melodious chorus of burps.

"HOW?!"

"Hey! I have a question!" Gus said.

"WHAT?!" Lilith roared, clearly at wits' end already.

"If nothing in this world can fix Lost Magic, what about stuff from other worlds?" He said while pointing at the food they all had been eating that Izuku had prepared for them.

"You can't heal people with food!" Amity said, groaning.

"We don't, but what if he can? He visits other worlds, yes? Maybe he learned that there!" Raine said with a look of realization.

"…" Lilith looked at the trays, then at the door Izuku walked out of, then back at the trays, then at the door, then at the trays, back and forth several times.

"CATCH HIIIIIIIIM!" Until finally, overcome by her 'Magical Nerd' side, Lilith gave a deafening mad scream and ran to the door and out the house, with the intent of forcefully extracting answers from the Chef clearly visible in her eyes.

"Wow! Barges into our World, Fixes Eda's unfix-able problem, refuses to elaborate further, leaves. What a GigaChad attitude!" Gus said, laughing loudly.

"Human Memes later! Let's go before Lilith gets herself killed just to ask that guy questions while hunting monsters!" Luz yelled, and pulling him by the arm, the small group hurried outside to chase the new strange visitor.

"…"

"...Guys?" It was only some time later that a small and strange furry thing with a face resembling a skull mask entered the now empty house.

"Collector kicked me out and re-sealed himself back in his place, he kept crying and screaming about 'Ancient Ones coming to eat him again' and wanted to stay alone." King said.

"...Hello?" He asked again, confused.

The Next Day - Hexside School -

"I can't believe we lost him!" Luz said.

"He can move fast, that's for sure." Willow answered, sighing.

"I am sorry for Miss Lilith, she had so many questions!" Gus said, sighing.

"Yeah, she was devastated."

"I just hope those two will be careful." Amity admitted, sighing.

"For the last time, we have no sightseeing of any Green-Haired Deities! I already asked the Blight Family and many more twice about any wayward family members with green hair, and it seems like all of them are accounted for!" Principal Bump passed by them in that moment while talking into a crow-like being with a number pad on its chest.

"What?" Willow muttered, confused.

"!" Whatever was the answer, they could only hear it come out yelled with a high-pitched tone strong enough the poor witch had to pull away the crow from his ear.

"Listen, I double-checked that God Of Cooking Legend you mentioned, and besides few sparse notes about how to recognize one listed in the diaries of Pukington the Very Fool, I can't find any other detail, and with the author having a name like THAT, you need to excuse me if I am not 100% convinced the Legend is legit!" the Principal answered, sarcastic.

"!"

"I don't CARE if you and most of your best Apprentices faintly foresaw the arrival of a green-haired one in the Boiling Isles yesterday before you all started to convulse and drool out of Forbidden Knowledge induced Madness! I have an actual school to run and can't waste time with few indescribable shapes you saw into the smoke of your pipe!"

"!"

"Animal guts, fine! Whatever!" Bump answered, rolling his eyes.

"The Principal is in a fool mood today." Luz said.

"I heard the Seer Coven and the Beast Coven have gone crazy lately, something has triggered their powers and danger senses and now they all talk of the end of the world...Again." Gus answered, sighing.

"You people have very exciting life here." Luz answered.

"I assure you that it is not always like this, I swear." Amity answered, leaning her head on the girl's shoulder to be petted a little.

"I believe you, sweet potato."

"NO! I won't put EVERYBODY on high alert just because you think a God from another realm is out there jaywalking! I have a reputation and won't put it at risk because you-"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Heavy tremors and explosions soon reached them with a jaunty rhythm similar to something heavy walking towards the school.

Then the giant body of an adult Kraken slowly appeared from the horizon bobbing up and down while carried by something, or somebody.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Santa Madre de Dios…" Luz muttered at seeing Izuku carrying by himself the forty meters tall thing over his head and passing in front of her and her friends without a care in the world.

"He found a Kraken…" Amity added, just as surprised.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Good evening! I was wondering if I could borrow your kitchen for some test cooking, in exchange I will let your students eat for free." Izuku asked, with each step of his sounding like a terrible explosion and causing small earthquakes while his feet sunk into the terrain of a couple inches at every step.

"...I'll call you later." Bump said to the crow with a squeaky voice.

"I know it's sudden, but nobody else wants to let us borrow their kitchen and we really need one." Ochako said, sheepish.

"This way." The Principal, still looking with bulged-out eyes at the towering monstrosity held up by who he recognized being a mere human Chef, answered while signaling them to follow him.

"Oh! Thank you! You are a life-saver! I captured a bunch alive for breeding for my Restaurant, but I need to test few recipes before actually adding new Kraken dishes to the menu!" Izuku said with a very grateful expression.

"Understandable, please follow me."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!…

"...Did he just say he captured a bunch of Krakens as big as that one?" Gus asked, faintly.

"Yep!" Willow answered with a squeak.

"Wasn't he human?" Amity asked.

"He said he was! And I am certain Japanese guys can do stuff like that without magic only in their Comics and cartoons!" Luz answered, unsure.

"He is not using Magic to make it lighter, that's for sure." Willow added, looking at the long trail of deep imprints Izuku had left behind while walking.

Later that day – Cafeteria -

Every student and teacher was sitting curiously at the tables waiting for the strange Foreigner Chef that had barged into the school while carrying a giant monster over his head to finish cooking, in what many thought was a publicity stunt that went way over the top.

"So, this is where that human went." A voice called-out from the entrance.

"Oh, no…" Amity groaned in dismay as her mother Odalia as well made her appearance while accompanied by her older sister.

"We are just as surprised as you are, mittens." Her older brother said, sighing.

"She is in a terrible mood too, apparently she is not taking well to a human showing off that much, especially so soon after the former Emperor has been turned to stone, tossed into the boiling sea and outed as human as well." Emira said, joining her siblings Amity and Edric at the same table.

"I still can't understand how he can lift that as a human without using glyphs…Or how his hair are naturally green color, I thought it was dye, but...It doesn't make any sense!" Luz admitted.

"Oh, from what I saw when he entered the school carrying that monster, his arms surely are full of the right muscles to lift all that…" Edric said with a more dreamy tone.

"What do you mean with that?" Emira answered with narrowed eyes.

"I saw him first." Her twin answered with a growl.

"Nonsense!"

"…" Amity instead watched in abject horror as her two siblings started a war of glares and hisses worthy of two angry human cats, making it dawn on her that there was a very concrete chance both had started veering for the same guy for romance.

"Seriously! What is with our Family and finding Humans endearing!?" She thought, until Luz leaned on her shoulder and shot Amity a sweet smile that melted the Witch's heart.

"Must be the smile...Or the ears…Whatever." she then thought, preferring to just enjoy the closeness of HER human, with a cutesy red face.

Meanwhile -

"Yes?" Ochako, once again acting as Izuku's waitress, asked.

"Let's say we will let the boy leave with all that Kraken meat, he better make it worth it." The woman ruling the Blight Family with an iron fist declared haughtily.

"I am sure we won't disappoint, but just to be sure, any particular request?"

"Just wondering if your boyfriend can actually cook proper food." Odalia answered with a sneer.

"...Uh?"

"I'll make everything worthy of a lady of high class such as you, don't worry. I promise I will be up to your standards, Madame." Izuku answered with an elegant bow.

"I doubt that, but I will humor you, human." Odalia replied, humming in distaste.

"Thank you for the chance." He answered, unfazed, and returning to the kitchen.

"Bitch." Ochako muttered.

"You mean witch?" Izuku asked, snorting.

"Nope." she answered, for the amusement of her boyfriend.

A Short time later -

"Here we are: smoked Kraken tentacle tips (a full tentacle would be way too big for a plate), with a foam of aromatic herbs, and egg custard made with ogre-vulture eggs and decorated by flowers made with crunchy potato strips." Izuku listed once brought the woman the artsy dish.

"Ogre-Vulture...You really got your hand on those too?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I got a couple of those birds on my way here, I was told their meat is actually delicious, and so the eggs, turns out they are right." Izuku answered.

"That giant bird is the natural predator of the Krakens."

"He did look the part yes. Now, with your permission, I shall bring the other dishes out, both to you and the others." Izuku said with a bow, and then leaving.

"...Aren't Ogre-Vultures, like, very big?" Emira asked.

"Enough to forcefully pull Krakens out of the water, yes." Amity answered with a tense tone.

"And he captured those too." Gus added, completely confused.

"Well then, useless small talks aside, let me try this fool's food." Odalia said, rolling her eyes and taking a bite off the food with a despondent expression, that only lasted until she actually tasted it.

"Holy Titan." She muttered, shocked.

Then another plate came...

"Stuffed Kraken tentacle. Stuffed with bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Kraken meat, Ogre-Vulture egg, pepper and cheese. The sauce is made with white wine made with the golden grapes of my Restaurant's island reserve, pepper and a bit of chili peppers." Izuku listed while delivering the plate himself to Odalia, while Ochako took care of the others.

"…"

"Why don't you ask her out, hn? You seem awfully entranced by her!" Amity said with a very annoyed tone.

"Wha?! I was not!" Luz said.

"Tch! You are ogling that waitress! Just admit it!"

"I was not! I swear! You are my Sweet Potato! My Super Awesome girlfriend! I will never need any other girl ever!"

"Then why you were not missing a SINGLE move of that girl?" The Witch asked with a vitriolic tone.

"...Promise to not get angry…"

"Hard to promise if THAT is the preface!" Amity growled.

"It's just...Her waitress uniform is so cute...So I was trying to imagine how you would look wearing that…" Luz admitted, face super red.

"Really?!"

"Uh-hu..."

"I see. Gus!"

"Oh my Titan, this tastes darn amazing!" The boy was too taken by eating to even just hear her.

"Have you tried this Pasta thing?! I swear its massaging my mouth!" Willow added, awed just like everybody else was.

"Gus?"

"Hn! I say we ask mother to take him in as Family Chef." Emira said.

"Sure! But you are not using that as an excuse to court him!" Edric answered.

"Hey!" Amity tried again.

"AS IF! Why should he settle for you when he could have ME!" Emira shot back.

"Gus!" Amity yelled.

"Wha?"

"Illusion! Waitress uniform! On me! NOW!" She ordered.

"On it! On it!" The guy answered, drawing a circle in the air with his finger and casting the illusion needed to turn Amity's clothes into the same uniform Ochako wore as waitress of Green Cloud Restaurant.

"Good, thank you. So?"

"GRFHISBUIB!"

"Hn! Better." She declared, hugging her brain-melted girlfriend and enjoying the 'Power' she had over her, and finally enjoying the food herself, to her amazement at the unexpected great taste and quality.

The long stream of test dishes was, all in all, a complete success once again for Izuku, and he gladly accepted the applause everybody gave him, and that was also why he was ready to run at the moments notice, with he and Ochako having already switched into more casual clothes best designed for a daring escape, as usual.

"I must say, my boy, that I was wrong. And that is something I usually hate to admit." Odalia said with a stern expression.

"I am glad you and everybody else enjoyed my food, Madame." He answered.

"Indeed I did enjoy it. That is why I struck a deal with Principal Bump: Starting today you will work as a Chef for the Blight Family and this school on alternate days, especially since the Potion Coven has a lot of questions for you after you showed how to fully remove the toxins from the Dead Cherries, turning them edible while leaving the toxins still usable to make healing potions." Odalia said, haughtily.

"My God...He even made Fairies taste good!" Luz was heard gurgle in the background while gorging herself in Fairy Cherry Cheesecake.

"Thank you…" Soon followed by Amity whispered thanks to Ochako when she handed her a copy of the recipe hand-written by Izuku.

"Perfect for Human girlfriends." The young Hero Student answered, winking.

"Sorry, but I can't acc-"

BANG!

In that moment Lilith interrupted Izuku's answer by kicking open the cafeteria doors, and showing a pair of blazing eyes that freeze whoever looked at her, all the while dragging a laughing Eda and a shocked Raine behind her.

"I FOUND YOU!" Lilith yelled.

"Uh?"

"YOU REGREW EDA'S ARM TOO! HOW?! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!" The woman demanded, pointing at the brand-new natural arm of her sister, instead of the prosthetic the woman used to have up until the previous day.

"I… Weeeeell..." Izuku tried saying.

"I KNEW IT! The Diaries were right! The visions were right too! You are that God of Cooking we foresaw!" The Head of the Seer Coven came in next, looking just as creepy with their own wide eyes.

"God of Cooking?" Many muttered, confused.

"And this our clue to leave! RUN!" Izuku yelled, and with merely a split-second difference, Ochako as well jumped out the window to join her boyfriend in a daring escape, with Whitey lagging slightly behind so to protect them from the magic the ones chasing them tried using to stop their escape.

"Stop running and answer my questions!" The Seer Coven Leader yelled.

"DON'T GO! I will put a good word with my mother! Please! Just a date or two! I WILL WORSHIP EACH AN EVERY ADORABLE FRECKLE OF YOURS WITH A LOVING KISS EACH!" Amira said.

"KISSES!? A DATE?!" Odalia yelled.

"Don't listen to her! Everybody knows Guy Love is purer! CHOOSE ME, MY BEEFY HUMAN HUNK-CAKE!" Edric answered.

"YOU TOO?! DO ALL MY CHILDREN FIND HUMANS ATTRACTIVE?!"

"TELL ME YOUR SECRETS! IT'S AN ORDER!" Lilith yelled.

"For the love of God! SYSTEM!" Ochako and Izuku yelled in chorus.

"Teleportation!" The Entity forgone any light show and simply got them all back home in a blink, leaving behind yet another group of psychos chasing Izuku and his companions empty-handed.

"NOOOOOOO!" Several voices yelled in despair.

"...There must be a Variable the System can't find. What is it?" The System said to itself, once again unable to understand how a Sortie ended up with its Host forced to escape in a hurry yet again.

Extra scene -

"Four girlfriends?!" Luz said in shock.

"Yep! Here!" Ochako answered, and showing them the pictures of the others she had on her phone, all group pictures the four girls and Izuku took together during their various dates.

"…"

"…"

"Why don't you ask her to give you a copy of the picture? So you can keep it." Luz said with a grunt, having seen Amity look at Rumi's pictures with a transfixed expression.

"W-W-What?! NO! Wait!" The other answered.

"Maybe I will ask Eda to help me grow rabbit ears, you seem to LOVE those!" Luz said, walking away with a disappointed, and childish, huff.

"WAIT! Wait! It's not what it looks like! She means nothing to me! Darling! Honey! My Beloved Sweet Potato! You are my one and only Human Goddess, I swear! Honest! SHE JUST SEDUCED ME! I am innocent! I Love you only!" Amity said while chasing after her, dropping a saccharine pet name after another.

"...Show me I am your only girl." Luz answered with narrowed eyes.

Amity's answer was a tackle and a deep kiss, which seemed to be the right answer.

"Those two are a Lesbian Disaster Duo." Ochako said, chuckling.

"Yep, but a very cute couple." Izuku answered, smiling.

"Definitely!"

"Oh, you have no idea how bad they can be!" The group of friends of the two girls answered with a suffering sigh.