Soup 1.8

⸻1⸻

A stream of disgruntled and crying students trickling out of the clubroom should have been enough of a warning not to enter, but in all honesty, it just made Dana all the more curious. The door looked like it could have belonged to any old classroom; the plaque hanging above the doorway was the only indicator that he was in the right place. It read "Sugar Research Society".

He hesitated outside the door. Dana wanted to go inside and check out their recipes and notes, but there was a sense of foreboding within the room, like a purple fog of fear and depression. A place with an innocuous name like 'Sugar RS' should not be this intimidating.

If Erina were here he'd definitely make her go in first. Contrary to his wild unruly demeanor, Dana had a low tolerance for scary things. It was too bad that Hisako had to drag her off to about a million-and-a-half appointments. Damn Erina and her sense of responsibility! When will she learn that the most joy in life is skipping out on things you don't want to do?

"Sheesh, with Chef Momo judging this year's applicants, our club will have no new members at all at this rate. Well, not that I'd really mind," said a pink-haired girl with a smirk on her face, following the trail of heartbroken students as they exited the room. "The Sugar Society has no room for people who can't contribute."

Her pink hair was tied up into a side ponytail by a pink and black ribbon, which matched the trim on her pink chef's coat. Pink! Pink! Pink! He had an inkling that pink just might be the girls favorite color, and in Dana's opinion, it was a little much. Where were the fashion police when you needed them? Then again—with the eccentric people wandering around Totsuki—they probably had their hands full.

"Oh?" she said, spotting Dana lingering outside the clubroom, "Another straggler? And a boy too! How cute." A condescending smile lit up her face, and she lightly touched her chin. Grabbing a fist full of his flannel shirt, the girl yanked him inside and slid the door closed.

"Hey, Chef Momo, we've got another one," the girl said, and with a less than courteous shove, she ushered Dana toward a group of Totsuki first-years huddled at one end of the room. He couldn't help but notice that they were all girls. Sure, the name 'Sugar Society,' didn't exactly invoke a masculine image, though for there to be no guys at all…it was suspicious.

Glancing around, Dana figured out why his instincts were telling him to stay away. The whole room was decorated with frilly ribbons and pictures of cats. The sheer cuteness of the decor made Dana feel uncomfortable, like he stumbled upon some kind of forbidden territory. He'd be more at home with knives and antlers dotting the walls than stuffed animals and flowers—unless the "stuffed animals" were actually taxidermy, of course.

"There's still more, Ya-nyan?" said Chef Momo Akanegakubo, a little girl seated at the front of the room. Her short purple hair was stylized to make it look like she had a pair of cat ears on top of her head. In her lap sat a chubby plush cat that Momo repeatedly squashed and stretched out, treating it like a stress ball. Her eyes flitted across the first-years and then darted to the corner of the room, avoiding all eye-contract. "I don't get why I have to do this. Make them go away. The desserts they're making aren't cute at all."

"It's tradition for the Sugar RS president to judge the dishes of hopeful applicants," Mea Yanai, or "Ya-nyan," explained, "The Research Society used to be so flooded with requests that this entrance exam was the only fair way to deal with them all."

"I don't care," Momo grumbled.

"Hey, how did you get your hair like that?" Dana asked, reaching for the cat-ear shaped tuft of hair, "Totsuki is full of rich people, so do you have your own stylist?" Momo batted his hand away with a mighty swig of her stuffed animal.

"Don't touch my hair!" Momo commanded, glaring at Dana from behind the toy cat, "You have eyes like a snake. It's creepy."

Mea Yanai laughed, "Okay, New Guy, here's a friendly piece of advice if you want to join our Research Society, don't make Chef Momo mad, understand?"

"Ah, I'm not looking to join your totes adorbs club or anything," Dana said, dismissively waving his hands, "No offense, but I'm not that much of a sugar fanatic. I'm only interested in taking a look at your research notes."

"You think you can simply walk in and gain access to all the recipes and notes collected and compiled by generations of Sugar RS members without even being a member yourself?" Momo asked in a fake voice, flailing the arm of the stuffed cat and making it look like Dana was being lectured by the toy, "That guileless naivety is…really cute."

"Huh?"

"It's a good thing you don't want to join," Momo continued, playing with her plush cat and ignoring Dana, "Because you wouldn't be able to make a good enough dessert to join even if you wanted to."

"Huh!?"

"I guess you'll never get to see those notes. Oh well, you can leave now. Ya-nyan, show this rude mutt to the door." Momo called out to Mea, who clasped a hand on Dana's arm. Yanking free from his upperclassman's grip, Dana stalked over to Momo and loomed over the small chef.

"If you have something to say, why don't you put it on a plate?" Dana asked, and everyone in the room began muttering things like, "Did he just challenge Chef Akanegakubo?" and, "Is he serious?"

"Oh?" Chef Momo had a gleam in her eye, "I was wrong about you. To challenge me to a Food War…Adorable. What's your name?"

"I'm Dana Alouette, a first-year student," Dana introduced himself, rolling up his sleeve, "And it doesn't have to be an official match. I'd rather we settled this right here and now."

"What a fool!" Mea Yanai said, a look of unbridled amusement on her face. She had heard of this boy before, and judging by Chef Momo's calculating expression, she has as well. Dana Alouette… the first-year that will be competing against Rindo Kobayashi in a Food War on Friday. "Don't you know that Momo Akanegakubo is the 4th Seat of the Elite Ten?"

"...Eh? Really?" Dana blinked and pointed at Momo, "This child is the 4th Seat?"

Momo gritted her teeth and aggressively kneaded her plush cat's head, and said, "Very well, I accept your challenge. You should feel honored. Normally I'd never do a Food War with a first-year, even an unofficial one, but I'm curious to see why Rindo would bother with someone like you. Try not to get too crushed, Da-nyan. I don't want to have to explain to Rindo why her new favorite toy was broken before she even got a chance to play with it."

"The 4th Seat? How exciting," Dana said with a savage smile, "I'm interested to see just how far away I am from the Totsuki Top Five."

⸻2⸻

(Unofficial)

FOOD WAR

Dana Alouette vs Momo Akanegakubo

Theme: French Dessert

Dana Wins: Gains access to Sugar RS's notes

Momo Wins: Gains access to Dana's notes on wild game

BEGIN!

By the time their battle started it was after dark. The arena was mostly empty except for the few members of the Sugar RS that decided to hang around to watch the bout. For a regular student, using the arena for an unsanctioned match after hours would be expressly forbidden, but thankfully Momo pulled some strings and got permission. Just another benefit of being a member of the Ten.

Never bothering with a Food War before, this was Dana's first time inside the arena. There were two cooking stations in the middle of an elevated platform which reminded him of a boxing ring. The comparison was more than adequate since this was a place for duking it out, although with their cooking instead of their fists.

The ceiling was high, hidden in the shadows of the blinding stage lights which bathed Dana and Momo. The rows and rows of stadium seats sat empty, the few spectators watching stood next to the stage, even so—the atmosphere was electric.

"Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it was to get all this set up on such short notice?" complained Etsuya Eizan, twirling the venue key on one finger. He pocketed it and ran his fingers through his blond swept-back hair, sighing. "I had to cancel an appointment with a client and call in a favor. That's a net-negative. In other words, I'm losing money here."

Momo glared at her underclassman. "I don't care, Etsu-nyan! Nobody wants to hear you complain. Gross."

"Hey now," Eizan said, shrugging his shoulders; a charismatic smile on his face, "There's no need to get so hostile. I just meant that I want to see a good show, that's all." You ungrateful little brat! He walked over to the judges' table and casually leaned against it. "Have fun you two."

"Y'know, I wanted to do this right away," Dana said to Momo, setting a cooler down at his cooking station, "but it was worth it, waiting those extra four hours." Momo was busy unpacking her own ingredients with Bucchi, her stuffed cat, faithfully at her side. She spared Dana a glance, and saw her underclassman gazing up at the overhead lighting with his arms outstretched, basking in the glow. "Not only do we get to battle in this stadium, it also gave me time to prepare this—"

Dana reached into his cooler and pulled out a tan square of folded dough, "Ta-da! With this, victory will be mine!"

"Is that…puff pastry?" Mea questioned from the judges' table, where she sat with two other girls from the Sugar RS. They had been selected by Chef Momo to serve as the judges. Each of them was a second-year student, and an expert on sugary food.

"Is it really such a surprise?" said the girl on her left, Ito, twirling a strand of blond hair around her finger, "Puff pastry is, like, a staple in French desserts, although…that first-year boy's pastry is strangely dark. Did he add something to the flour?"

"To make a puff pastry," the girl on Mea's right, Tanaka, spoke up and nudged her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "dough has to be laminated with butter to prevent the layers from sticking together during the folding process. It's simple, yet time consuming, but results in light flaky layers when cooked properly. Like pastry origami."

"We know that already, Tani," Ito complained, "Gosh, just because you wear glasses it doesn't mean you're smart! I'm, like, wondering why Alouette's is so different. See, look at Chef Momo's puff pastry," Momo, who had also prepared a puff pastry for her dish, set hers on the counter. It was several shades lighter than the brown pastry that Dana had created.

"Huh…Did he add something to the flour?"

"I already asked that, you dunderhead!" Ito yelled, flexing her fingers like she really wanted to strangle Tanaka, "That's what we're trying to figure out! Try to keep up!"

"You guys are just too funny," Mea said, laughing into the back of her hand. Dana and Momo paused what they were doing and glanced over at the rambunctious judges' table. The two competitors shared a look and returned to their cooking.

Eizan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, massaging it briefly. A small headache was already starting to form. Who the hell chose these judges? Would it even have been possible to find a more annoying trio?

"Well, at least they're having fun too," Dana commented, putting his puff pastry into the oven. While the girls were arguing, he had rolled the dough out to about 6 mm thickness, and made sure to cover it with a baking rack so that his pastry would rise evenly during cooking.

"Too noisy," Momo said, putting her puff pastry into the oven as well. However, hers was cut into a circle instead of leaving the whole rectangle intact, and she gave it an egg wash with a brush. After a dusting of sugar, she then placed parchment paper and a perforated baking sheet on top of her puff pastry. In doing so, the puff pastry won't rise as much and will end up being denser and crunchier.

"So you also made puff pastry, Momo," Dana said, "I suppose that explains why you wanted to push back our battle by a few hours." He smiled, displaying his sharp canines, "Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"Since you challenged me to a Food War, I assume you're not very bright, Da-nyan," Momo replied, pouring water and milk into a pot on the stove, "It's best to go full force against people like that. They just wouldn't understand otherwise." She added butter and salt, slowly mixing it all together.

"I guess we'll have to see." Cranking up the heat on his stove, Dana grabbed a bag of nuts and tossed them in a wok. Humming, "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," he roasted them, enjoying the crackling noise as they cooked. "Ah, but these are hazelnuts though."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Momo dumped flour into the pot of thoroughly melted butter and stirred furiously. Under her scrutinizing care, the creamy buttery soup transformed into a soft pillowy dough.

"Oh? That mixture…Chef Momo is making choux pastry," Mea exclaimed, watching her club president transfer the dough into a bowl and meticulously incorporate the necessary eggs one at a time.

"So she's making two different kinds of pastries," Ito said, "By mixing the eggs while the dough is off heat, the choux gains a smooth consistency and can be piped. It's like night and day compared to the dense layered puff pastry that she has cooking in the oven."

"It is a dough that doesn't need a leavening agent," said Tanaka, fidgeting with her glasses. With her dark hair tied up into a tight bun, she looked like a prim and proper intellectual that was about to deliver a lecture, "Instead it rises with the power of steam. It is the steampunk pastry of the culinary world."

"Hn, That scatterbrained mind of yours doesn't match your outward appearance at all," Ito said, inspecting her nails, "Do you, like, ever even think before opening your mouth?"

Ignoring the ongoing banter at the judges' table, Dana took his hazelnuts off the heat and rubbed them with a towel to remove their fuzzy shells and skin. Next he put a large saucepan on the stove and brandished his secret weapon—maple syrup. After pouring the syrup, Dana clipped a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and watched the temperature like a hawk.

"You're using maple syrup?" Momo asked, taking a brief reprieve from her choux. Manually folding in the eggs one by one was mentally exhausting. "By heating it up, you're planning on making a type of caramel sauce."

Dana watched his syrup boil, savoring the sweet smell of caramelizing sugar, and once the temperature reached 110 degrees celsius, took the pan off the heat, and added some butter and heavy cream. Dana gently stirred the mixture until it was nice and smooth, "Any self-respecting Canadian wouldn't be caught dead without a jar of maple syrup in their kitchen."

"And I'm not exactly making a caramel sauce," Dana added, "It's a praline," Throwing the roasted hazelnuts and salt into the pan, Dana churned them until every single nut was coated in the maple caramel. He poured the entire contents of the saucepan onto a baking sheet and popped it into the minifridge.

"A praline is a confection containing nuts," Momo murmured to herself as she began piping her choux pastries into small chouquettes on a baking sheet, "And there's that dark puff pastry in the oven…What is he up to?" Painting on an egg wash and a dash of pearl sugar, Momo slid the baking sheet into the oven to bake.

Dana Alouette, thought Eizan, mentally going over the data gathered by his top informant, a wild game specialist that has extensively traveled all over the globe. The basis of his cooking is French, but has been known to break that mold and utilize techniques and ingredients from a multitude of cuisines. Out of all the first year students, this was the one that Eizan found most intriguing. A rare specimen. It was why he went along with Momo's asinine and unreasonable request in the first place. He wanted to see for himself, this dark horse—Dana Alouette!

After letting the caramel coated hazelnuts cool down, Dana took them from the fridge and dumped most of them into a food processor, setting the rest to the side. The machine whirled to life, grinding the nuts into powder, and then into paste. Heavy cream was added, turning the praline into a nougat sauce. Dana put the sauce back into the fridge.

"Time to kick his battle into high gear!" Dana shouted, spinning two cans of espresso. He popped the tops off and drained them into a fresh saucepan, smiling gleefully. Following the coffee, milk and vanilla was drizzled into the pan, and then heated up on the stove. In a separate bowl, Dana whisked together egg yolks and sugar. Adding the contents of the bowl to the saucepan, he mixed the two until he was left with a fine coffee cream. Putting it in a container, Dana left the cream to cool in the fridge.

"He's using coffee…in a dessert? That's, like, kinda bold for a first-year, don'tcha think?" Ito said, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder, "Of course I could pull it off. Coffee and nuts do pair well together, like, in the hands of a competent chef." Lost in a daydream, Ito caressed her rosy cheeks, "Like a coffee walnut layer cake, yum!"

"Though often considered a drink of culture," Tanaka chimed in, the bright lights gleaming off her glasses, "Coffee is pretty much just bitter bean juice."

"Dammit, Tani! Don't put that thought in my head!" snapped Ito, her reverie shattered.

"If Dana Alouette can properly tame the bitterness of the coffee with the sweet nutty hazelnut praline sauce, this dish might have some potential," Mea said, for once not smirking. Seeing her underclassman in a new light, she observed his actions through an analytical lens. While she may tend to look down on people, she's not above acknowledging someone's skills. "I'm actually looking forward to trying his dessert."

Unperturbed by the commotion going on at her competitor's cooking station, Momo focused on creating her own cream and whisked egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl. To that; she added, in increments, a mixture containing milk, vanilla, and cognac that had been scalded. Pouring the substance from the bowl back into the saucepan, Momo whisked the cream until it thickened some. After that, she poured it out onto a baking sheet to cool.

Momo had one final cream to prepare before her pastries had finished cooking. Using an immersion blender, she whipped up some fresh chantilly cream. Momo then tipped a couple spoonfuls of gelatin into the mix to help the cream hold its shape.

An intense nutty smell bloomed from Dana's oven as he pulled out his cooked puff pastry, drawing the noses of everyone. The pastry was a perfect golden brown and flaky. Laying it on a cutting board, Dana unsheathed a bread knife from his canvas knife roll. "Finally, I get to cut something!"

Dana expertly and swiftly divided the puff pastry into fifteen equal sized rectangles.

"Ah! I get what he's making now!" Mea exclaimed, "Mille-feuille!"

"The mille-feuille, also known as a Napoleon, is a layered dessert where puff pastry is stacked intermittently with cream or fruit filling," said Tanaka, "It is said to be the precursor to modern day layer cakes, like an uncle or a distant cousin."

"You always start off saying something smart, but then end it with, like, the weirdest metaphors ever," Ito said, resting her head on the palm of her hand. She eyed the components of Dana's dish. "Still, a coffee Napoleon with hazelnuts…it's similar to my idea of a coffee walnut layer cake. I'm curious where he learned this recipe."

Not to be outdone, Momo ripped the paws off of Bucchi and used them as oven mitts, removing her circular puff pastry and chouquettes from the oven. The arena filled with a sweet smell that momentarily made everyone think that they were in a French bakery. Dana wiped drool from his mouth as he retrieved his hazelnut nougat and coffee cream from the fridge.

Once his rectangles of puff pastry had cooled down enough so that his cream fillings wouldn't simply melt out the sides, Dana went to work assembling his mille-feuille. He piped the brown nougat in a stripe down the center of each pastry that served as the bottom and middle of his dessert, leaving the top rectangle untouched. Lining the hazelnut nougat, Dana piped tufts of the coffee whipped cream.

He finished off his layered dessert by giving it a dusting of cocoa powder, and plated it with a pair of golden glazed hazelnuts as garnish and a fancy smear of his maple caramel sauce. As Momo was working on putting the final touches on her dessert, Dana carried his dishes to the judges' table. "I give you my signature dessert: Coffee Mille-Feuille with Hazelnut Creme."

"Oh wow! It looks so decadent and sophisticated," Mea complimented, admiring the dark brown, almost black, top layer of the mille-feuille and how it contrasted the golden hazelnuts, "It's like the complete opposite of the chef that made it."

"Hey, Hey, Hey, I think you'll find that it's more down to earth than you think," Dana replied with a small smile and a piercing gaze. Mea felt a chill run up her spine under the boy's scrutiny. It was as if he had seen right through her skin and was staring at her very soul. She had to admit, it was kinda hot. "That's not to say this shit won't send you to heaven."

"That was a good line," said Tanaka, "I think I might use it myself one day. In the words of Picasso, 'Good artists borrow; great artists steal.'"

"Just shut up and eat already, gosh!" Ito said, rolling her eyes, "In the words of Ito, 'You're, like, so freakin' annoying!'" The three girls sliced into the mille-feuille which gave a satisfying crunch as pieces of the flaky puff pastry broke apart. They speared the broken piece with a fork and tentatively raised it to their mouths, taking a bite.

A rich earthy taste of the coffee and hazelnuts danced a torrent tango on their tongue, overwhelming their senses and rocking them back into their seats. The balance of the bitter coffee and the sweet hazelnuts was sublime. It made them feel like they were in the presence of a giant buddha statue that was ready to take them to Nirvana.

"What…What is this?!" Ito exclaimed wide-eyed, staring at the dessert, "This subtle nuttyness that permeates the whole dish…That has to be it. That's the key to this dish. It somehow took the coffee and hazelnuts, combining and elevating their flavor profiles."

"Like a Fusion Dance," Tanaka added, pushing up her glasses, "The two became one."

"The nuttyness is the puff pastry," Mea observed with a hand on her cheek as she savored the flavors of Dana's dessert. She wasn't too sure about him at first—yeah, he had a cute face, but he seemed so uncouth. However, guys that knew how to make bitchin' desserts were definitely her type. "It's distinctly different from the hazelnuts, but I can't tell what it is."

Dana grinned like the Cheshire Cat, and with smug half-lidded eyes, boldly proclaimed, "It's crickets." The three judges, Eizan, and Momo were stunned into silence, an awkward lull that would have paired well with the lonesome song of a cricket. Dana could practically hear the insects chirping outside the soundless arena.

Ito looked down at her plate in abject horror, suddenly terrified of her food, and yet she couldn't stop herself from taking another bite, "Eating bugs is, like, totally disgusting, but it's so delish. I can't help it! This dessert is turning me into an animal!" Ito imagined herself as a small blond mouse happily munching on a cricket in a field of tall grass.

"It isn't exactly mainstream, but utilizing bugs in cooking has become more common over the years," Tanaka said, "Crickets in particular are known as "gateway bugs," and are usually a person's first exposure to eating insects."

"But how were they incorporated?" Mea asked, picking apart her mille-feuille with a fork. Sifting through the coffee cream and hazelnut nougat, she couldn't detect any crickets in the delectable dessert.

Momo walked over to the judges' table and broke a piece off of Mea's serving, tasting Dana's dish for herself. After a moment, Momo glanced at Dana with sharp eyes and said, "You used cricket flour."

"Diiiing! You're totally right, Momo! As expected of Totsuki's number one pâtissier," Dana said, lightly clapping his hands together.

"Don't patronize me, Da-nyan."

"Uh, excuse me?" Ito half-heartedly raised her hand, "But, like, what the hell is cricket flour?"

Sensing her time to shine, Tanaka answered, "Similar to how flour is made from grinding grains into powder, cricket flour is basically the same. The bugs are cooked, dried, and then ground down to create a protein rich powder that can augment regular flour, or in some recipes, replace it completely. To put it simply, it's bug dust."

Sticking out her tongue, Ito scrunched her face in revulsion, "I wish you wouldn't put it that way."

"The use of cricket flour's mild nuttyness was a smart idea," Eizan reluctantly complimented, trying a piece of the mille-feuille for himself, "It served as a mellow foundation that allowed for the bold flavors of the cream and nougat to stand out without the dish becoming disjointed. It is something that only someone with an intimate understanding of the subtle nuances of the tongue's taste receptors could have accomplished. One bite and you could tell; this was not prepared by an amateur. How did you come up with this recipe?"

Dana hummed, tapping his face with a finger, "Let's see…I guess it all started when my dad died, leaving my mom to raise me by herself. She never complained, not once, despite having to juggle taking care of a kid and her career as a traveling chef and cookbook author. Her favorite dessert is mille-feuille, and so to thank her I made one for her birthday."

"That's, like, surprisingly touching," said Ito, tears swimming in the corners of the foul-mouthed girl's eyes.

Closing his eyes, Dana reminisced,"It was the first proper dish I'd ever cooked. This was about five-ish years ago, so it was a total mess, but she happily ate it anyway. Seeing my mom so happy, it was what made me want to be a chef. Through cooking, I could share the workload; I no longer had to feel like a burden to her. The mille-feuille I made tonight is a recipe I've been tweaking for years now."

His heartwarming story ended with Dana being torpedoed in the chest as all three judges hugged him. The blond girl, Ito, was openly bawling, wiping her tear-streaked make-up on his chef's coat. Gripping Dana's arm, Tanaka dabbed her eyes with a tissue, offering one to him also.

Dana tried to push them off, but was restrained by Mea hugging him from behind. Unlike the other two, she didn't seem sad at all. It was more like she saw an opportunity to tease him, "Let go of me, dammit! I don't need your pity."

"Awww, don't be like that," Mea said, pressing up against Dana, "That tough guy act isn't fooling anyone. It's be more convincing if you weren't so flustered." Ito blubbered something into Dana's chest, but the girl was crying so much it was incomprehensible, although Tanaka nodded along like she understood perfectly.

"Ahem," Momo coughed, holding her completed dessert on a silver platter, "If you four are finished playing around, I'd like to have my dish judged. That is, of course, unless you want to keep wasting my time." It was amazing how intimidating a small girl, who barely reached Dana's rib cage in height, could be when annoyed. Even her stuffed toy cat, Bucchi, adopted an annoyed expression—and that doesn't even make sense. That's just how annoyed she was.

The girls released Dana like he was scorching and fled back to the judges' table. Dana grumbled and tried to wipe off the mascara that had stained the front of his uniform with little success. Luckily, the black smudges blended in with the dark blue fabric.

"I've made a Gâteau Saint Honoré," Momo proclaimed, setting the platter down on the table. The round puff pastry served as the base of the dessert, and the chouquettes formed a ring around its circumference. The whipped cream in the center was sculpted to look like a bouquet of white roses; capped with one final chouquette. A proverbial cherry topping the elegant dessert.

"A Saint Honoré cake, truly a debonair dessert," Tanaka commented, "It's named after Honoratus the Patron Saint of Bakers. Shaped like a crown, it has been called the King of French Desserts."

"Whatever, Tani, you totally just made that last part up," Ito interjected, cleaning up her ruined make-up with wet-wipe and a hand mirror. Satisfied that she didn't look like a complete trainwreck, she directed her attention towards Momo's pastry. "Though I do agree, it has the sort of majestic nobility suitable for royal types like myself."

"Looks matter," Mea cut into the pastry, putting a slice of the Saint Honoré on her plate, "But taste matters more. We're not gonna be lenient just because you're the Prez, Chef Momo." Collecting a piece of pastry on her fork, Mea brought the dessert up to her mouth, "Little Alouette brought his best to the table, so you better have done the same. You don't want to lose to a first-year, and at your own specialty too! That would be hilarious!"

As soon as Mea tasted the pastry, the fork slipped from her hand and clattered on the table. In her mind, Mea Yanai was dancing with a charming prince whose head was a chouquette. Her white dress was silky smooth like the whipped cream of the Saint Honoré cake, and she glided across the puff pastry floor of the grand hall. All the components of Momo's dish blended together to form a gala of delectability.

The other two judges had similar reactions, and earnestly devoured the dessert. The soft pastries, the smooth creams, everything about the dish made it go down easy. It was practically drinkable. Unable to resist the allure of the dish, Dana tried it for himself.

"Shit," Dana said, not even needing to hear the judges' verdict. The difference between his dessert and the one Momo prepared was obvious. Skill, experience, and technique: Momo eclipsed him in all three categories. He put himself on a plate, but it wasn't enough to tip the scales. He lost.

"With a score of 3-0, the winner of this unofficial Food War is…," Mea paused for dramatic effect, "our club president and 4th Seat of the Elite Ten Council, Chef Momo Akanegakubo!" The spectating members of the Sugar RS cheered for their leader's victory.

Eizan chuckled softly to himself. The dish the kid made was good, but he was never going to beat chef Momo at her own game. Although, he was surprised by how close the battle actually was. He gained some valuable insight into the newest piece on the Totsuki chessboard, and in the end, that's all he was after. Without anybody noticing, he slipped quietly away into the shadows. "I think I'm gonna look forward to Friday's match, Dana Alouette. Heh."

"What a waste of time," Momo muttered, stretching out Bucchi's face, "The outcome was obvious from the start. A first-year student could never beat me." She wasn't satisfied with simply winning. Momo wanted to crush Dana and humiliate him, but the caliber of dessert he made was on par with something she would have baked her first year at Totsuki. And he wasn't even a patissier. How uncute.

Dana growled in frustration and pulled his hair before sighing, resigned to his fate. At the very least, he now knew how strong a member of the Totsuki Top Five was. If he wanted to beat Rindo, he needed to step up his game, "I know when I've been outclassed. As promised I'll bring my notes to your club room tomorrow. Ugh, this fucking suuuuucks! I really wanted to see those Sugar RS notes too."

"You may have lost, Da-nyan," Momo said, repeatedly tossing Bucchi in the air, "However, the dish you made was good enough for the Research Society. I'll let you see the club's research notes and recipes, as our newest member."

"Huh?"

"Wow, congrats," Mea patted Dana on the head, smirking, "You're the only first-year to pass Chef Momo's entrance exam this semester. She must have taken a liking to you! It took me a full month before she would even look me in the eyes, but she's been having full conversations with you. I'm kinda jealous."

"Huh!?

"It's nice to finally have a boy join," Tanaka bowed to Dana in greeting, pushing her glasses up with a finger, "All twelve of the other members are women." She clenched her fists and gave them a little pump, "Keep on breaking those glass ceilings."

"HUH!?"

"Just because you're the only man in the Sugar RS, you, like, don't get any special treatment, got that?" Ito said, crossing her arms. She looked away and scratched her cheek, "But…Welcome, I guess. I'm glad you're joining…sort of. Just don't make me eat any more bugs, and we'll totally get along."

"When did I say I was joining!?"

"You don't get to say no," Momo mumbled, and a cruciform of anger pulsated on Bucchi's head.

"Like hell I don't!"

⸻3⸻

After the cooking stations were cleaned, Dana and the other members of the Sugar RS went home for the night, leaving Momo alone in the empty arena. She incessantly squished poor Bucchi's head as she glared daggers at the mille-feuille that Dana had made. "I think I get it now, why you're so interested in Da-nyan…Rindo."

The tall redheaded girl stalked out of the shadows, her footsteps echoing in the vacant stadium. Pouting, she said, "Awe, I got caught!"

"So you really were watching?" Momo replied, "I thought that might have been the case. Da-nyan got his cricket flour from you, right?"

"Hah," Rindo laughed, "You know me so well! I really like that nickname you gave him by the way. It's super adorable. When Dana burst into my personal kitchen and begged me for some cricket flour, I knew I had to follow him. Challenging you to a Food War where the theme was French Dessert? Isn't he just the most fun ever?"

"That's not how I'd put it, but I do have a hunch that he'll become the next big thing here at Totsuki."

"Oh? Is Momo's ador-a-meter going off? Is that why you invited him into your Research Society?" Rindo asked, though Momo turned and hid behind Bucchi, deftly avoiding the question, "It's okay, I understand. I can sense it…" Rindo smiled, "A wave is coming to Totsuki, and you want to ride it too."

As Rindo began to walk away, Momo called out to her compatriot, "I'll come watch your Food War. I want to see the full extent of my new club member's cooking abilities, so be sure to bring it out of him."

Rindo looked over her shoulder with a toothy grin, "That's the idea! Look forward to it." She turned and headed down the dark tunnel towards the exit, and said softly, "It'll be a wild ride."

End of Chapter

⸻Author's Note⸻

Surprise, motherfuckers! You all thought Dana's first Food War would be with Rindo, but it was actually with Momo, the patissier prima donna. And he lost in a clean sweep. It was to be expected. Dana arrogantly thought he could beat Momo at her own game. He tries to keep it in check, but he is a bit of a narcissist. Just not overtly so. What's important is that he learns from his failure and grows because of it, or something. I don't know. Fuck it.

We're getting near the end of the Arc now. There's probably only two or three chapters left. There is just one Elite Ten member remaining, and then, of course, the showdown with Rindo. I'm not really sure my meager writing skills will be able to paint a grandiose finale, the Food War, like, eight chapters in the making, but I hope it'll be somewhat satisfying.

Mirthfully Yours,

A Horseshoe Crab

Chapter Word Count: 6,083

Arc Word Count: 41,521

Story Word Count: 41,521