As the three Central participants made their way back to the sideline, the rebels could soon tell that something wasn't quite right – particularly with Eishi. This was confirmed moments later when he suddenly collapsed to the ground, exhausted from his battle with Kuga. As he was breathing hard while struggling to sit up, he commented, "That last match took a lot more out of me than I expected." Somei then came up to them and added, "I know the feeling." Although he was still standing, Somei had an aura about him that exuded fatigue. "That last battle for me was like battling my own shadow." Rindo then began ragging on them, saying how much of a wuss each of them was, when she, too, suddenly began to feel extremely fatigued. As she collapsed to the ground, Rindo stated, "I guess that last match with Megishima took a lot out of me, too."
As the remaining members of the Central team gathered around their exhausted comrades, Daniel asked Erina as they watched, "Did you plan on this all along?" Erina nodded and explained, "Even if we lost those matches, by setting up those matchups as we did, we ensured that they would become exhausted. Although they are very talented, they're still human, and will need to rest quite a bit to regain their strength." As Daniel nodded at the explanation, he replied, "Very clever – a war of attrition, then." He then saw Eishi and Rindo's teammates try to gather them up and help them walk back to their rooms.
Just as the Central team was about to leave the arena, Soma called out to them. "Hold on a minute!" he shouted. "Don't you think it would be better if we determined the matchups for the next session now?" At this, Daniel and Megumi walked up to Soma's side and stood by him. "After all," Soma continued, "it's time that all of you saw what us first-years are really capable of!" Daniel grinned and added, "That's right! Let's see how you all fare against…The Three Amigos!" A few of the Central members laughed at this – some in amusement, some mockingly. However, after several minutes, they all finally agreed on the matchups for the next day's morning session – Megumi would take on Momo Akanegakubo, Daniel would be matched up against Etsuya Eizan, and Soma would go up against Somei Saito. Despite the fact that he was feeling quite fatigued, Somei volunteered to take on Soma the next morning, saying that he would be ready and refreshed by then.
Meanwhile, Eishi and Rindo looked as though they would be needing rest for quite some time – possibly for the entirety of the next day. This is what Erina had been hoping for. If Eishi and Rindo were out of commission for an entire day, that would give the rebels an opportunity to take out the remainder of the Central team, leaving Eishi and Rindo alone to take on up to six rebels – something that would be extraordinarily difficult even for them. While there was an aura of disappointment as the rebels filed out of the arena (particularly those who had been in the cage), there was also a sense of cautious optimism that Erina, Soma, and the other first-years would lead the team to victory in the end.
The next morning, the rebels gathered in the lobby after breakfast to enjoy each other's company before they headed to the arena for that day's matches. Soma was playing cards with Alice, Ryo, and Akira, while everyone else was standing around in smaller groups chatting. Daniel was in a group close to the card game along with Megumi, Erina, and Hisako, and they were all listening in to the card game while simultaneously talking among themselves. At one point, Hisako asked Erina, "Is it really alright for everyone to act so casual and relaxed like this?" Erina nodded and replied, "It's better than having everyone anxious and overly tense." Something in Alice's hand then suddenly caught her eye as she turned away from the conversation and to the game as she shouted at Alice to play a certain card. At this, both Hisako and Daniel thought to themselves, 'She so wants to join in.'
Alice, however, started to get annoyed by Erina's advice and snapped at her to either join in herself or butt out of her hand. Hisako then did her usual thing and stood up in defense of her best friend. This only annoyed Alice further, prompting her to shout, "You keep out of this, Hishoko!" At this, Hisako became even more indignant and shouted back, "My name isn't Hishoko!" As the two growled at each other, Daniel started to become annoyed himself, as Hisako had repeatedly asked Alice not to call her by that nickname. He then suddenly thought of a really good way to get back at her for Hisako.
As Daniel made his way to Hisako's side, he said to Alice, "You seem a little tense there, Alice. How about I show you a guaranteed way to take your mind off the stress?" As Alice looked at him quizzically, she asked, "Will it really work?" Daniel nodded and said, "It sure will. Just ask Hisako – she knows what I'm talking about, right?" He then looked toward Hisako with a grin and a wink before Hisako's eyes widened as she remembered and figured out exactly what Daniel had in mind. "Oh, yeah," she said. "He's right – it really does take your mind off whatever stress you have." As Alice decided to go along with Daniel, Erina raised an eyebrow, curious as to what exactly Daniel was up to.
Daniel then began to give instructions to Alice. "First, take a deep breath and close your eyes." After she did that, Daniel then stated, "Now repeat after me – Owah!" Alice repeated, "Owah," as she nodded, trying to relax. "Tagoo," Daniel said. "Tagoo," Alice said as well. "Siam," Daniel ended. "Siam," Alice repeated again. "Now say it all together," Daniel instructed as he sported a grin. Alice nodded (though she wasn't looking at Daniel) as she said, "Owahtagoosiam! (Oh, what a goose I am!)" As soon as she said it, she realized what she had said and angrily screeched as Daniel was chuckling. Moments later, everyone else around them was laughing at this, except for Ryo, though if you looked close enough, you could see a slight smile on his face. As for Erina, she was laughing so hard that she was holding her sides.
Alice then began shouting, "Stop it! Stop laughing!" When they failed to stop, she faced Daniel and began growling over the embarrassment she had been subjected to. As Daniel finally stopped laughing, he grinned and stated, "Consider that payback for constantly calling Hisako by that demeaning and ridiculous nickname." As Daniel then hugged Hisako from the side and kissed her temple, Alice's look softened a bit as she calmed down, sighed, and said, "I guess I can't be too mad at you – that was very sweet, doing that for your girlfriend." She then got a mischievous grin on her face as she added in a low voice, "But don't think that I won't get you back for this one day."
The group then heard the elevator ding loudly. When they turned towards the noise, they saw Momo stepping out and approaching them. Soma then began to speak to her in a casual manner, as he was his usual way with just about everyone, asking how she and her teammates were doing. Momo said that she was in "tip, top shape," and that while Eishi and Rindo were still in their rooms recovering from the previous day's matches, Somei had recovered himself after sitting under a cold artificial waterfall that was in the hotel. This surprised everyone – not just that Somei had recovered so quickly, but also by the method he used to do so. 'Another part of his bushido mindset, I suppose' Daniel thought to himself.
Momo then continued to talk about how she was feeling going into the match – which was a surprise in and of itself, since she usually didn't talk much. In fact, this was the most talkative that any of them had ever seen her. She seemed to be acting quite friendly to everyone, even giving everyone "cute" nicknames – really variations of their names that ended in -myan or -nyan, which came off initially as endearing, if a bit uncomfortable. In particular, she acted overly sweet and cute towards her opponent for today, Megumi. One thing Daniel noticed, however, was that she never addressed him – not even to give one of her "cute" nicknames, which was a bit surprising.
When Momo finally started to walk away towards the arena, Isshiki told them that while her demeanor seemed innocent and nice enough, her habit of giving people "cute" nicknames was a sign that she was looking down upon them as chefs – that she saw those with the nicknames as clearly inferior to her. This made people feel a little uptight, particularly Megumi, who had been subjected to her "cuteness" quite heavily. Daniel then asked Isshiki about the fact that she hadn't addressed him at all – not even to give him a nickname. As Isshiki thought about it, he replied, "I can't be certain, but I think it has to do with the fact that you beat her in the Straggler Hunt earlier. She still isn't sure how to view you." Daniel nodded in understanding, as he commented, "Still, let's see if we can take her down a peg or two today – show her that we're worthy of her respect." Soon after, the start time was approaching fast, and the rebels all began to make their way to the arena for that day's matches.
When they all finally arrived at the arena, the expelled rebels were once again led into their cage, much to their annoyance. Meanwhile, the competing rebels who were present got changed in their designated area, came out to a jeering crowd, and headed to their sideline where the cage was. With Urara taking up her emcee duties (as well as her unofficial duties of getting the crowd fired up on behalf of Central), and the judges filing in and taking their seats at the judges' table, they were ready to begin the day's matches.
The first order of business was to determine the theme for each match, since the individual matchups had already been determined the day before, which Urara announced to the crowd – Megumi vs. Momo, Daniel vs. Eizan, and Soma vs. Somei. As per usual, the rebel contestants got to draw from the machine and pick the theme for their matches. Soma went first and ended up choosing Butter, something that would be equally challenging for both him and Somei, though both looked as though they were ready for the challenge. Next, Daniel got to draw, and he ended up picking Beef – something he was very familiar with, but was sure Eizan was just as comfortable with. Eizan grinned his usual evil-looking grin, but Daniel gave a small, confident smile. Last, Megumi drew Apples as the theme for her match – a bit unlucky, as apples went perfectly with Momo's specialty of western-style pastries. Yet somehow, Megumi was able to sport a look of brave determination at the theme she drew.
As Urara announced the theme for each of the matches, Soma, Daniel, and Megumi huddled together to discuss strategy for how they would work together in this session. While they may have been first years, the three of them were also close friends, having been through a lot in the six months they had all been at the academy together, which they believed would help them carry the day. As they finalized their strategy, Daniel ended with an enthusiastic, "Let's show them how's it done and make sure they always remember The Three Amigos!" Both Soma and Megumi chuckled at Daniel's enthusiasm, but nodded in determination before the gong sounded and the cooking time began.