"Why are we here again?" Keannu looked around the kitchen, clearly unsure of the purpose.
"Learning. Teamwork. Fun?" Acma slowly listed a few benefits, trying to convince Keannu.
"He promised me a nice set of ancient armor, I can't say no to that," Shrewdya said.
"What? So unfair. He always gives girls better deals. He only promised me and Keannu a set of items for our field exams, 500 Gils at most," Raddie exclaimed.
"Exams which I don't plan to take," Keannu replied, expressing his disinterest.
"But I will, and I'm helping you secure your scholarship to stay at Garden," Raddie added. "Anyway, it's a pleasure to be in Master Miyagi's house. I can sense his spirit."
"Raddie, you're scaring me by bringing that up," Shrewdya crossed her arms, feeling uneasy.
"Okay, we don't have much time," Timeth interrupted the chitchat. "How do we begin?"
The gang spent the following hour discussing potential dishes. However, they realized halfway through that they were missing some ingredients, forcing them to change their original ideas. The initial reluctances among the new friends soon gave way to friendly discussions, which in turn escalated into heated arguments about the efficiency of their culinary techniques.
By the cutting board...
"Shrewdya, do you want to help me cut these veggies? I'm not very skilled with a knife..." Acma asked, seeking assistance.
"I'd love to, but I don't want to ruin my nails. I just had them done with Miss Trepe," Shrewdya replied, prioritizing her manicure.
"You went to a nail salon with Miss Trepe?" Acma was surprised by the random fact. However, it made sense considering Shrewdya and Miss Trepe's shared sense of fashion and high beauty standards. "Okay, let me give it a try. I can do this."
Acma attempted to mimic Zyma's technique, tossing a carrot in the air before slashing her knife.
"Ahhhhh..."
Shrewdya screamed.
"Oh, shoot! I'm so sorry," Acma stopped what she was doing and looked at Shrewdya, making sure her knife hadn't come into contact with her neck. "Did I touch you?"
"It's a ninjato. If you touch me, you kill me," Shrewdya screamed, exaggerating the danger. "But my hair... I think some of it fell into the noodle soup."
"Oops..." Acma realized that strands of hair had indeed fallen into the soup, and there was no way to retrieve them.
By the stove...
"I think the rice soup is too salty," Raddie informed Keannu.
"Okay, let's add more water then," Keannu said, pouring water into the boiling saucepan. "How about now?"
"Yikes, it's too bland now. Let me add more fish sauce... There we go. You try it this time," Raddie suggested.
"Man, only a fish can eat this soup. Add more water!" Keannu exclaimed, wrinkling his face after tasting a spoonful.
"This saucepan isn't big enough," Raddie observed, looking at the almost overflowing saucepan. "Ah, there's a bigger pot. Let me grab it."
"Quick thinking, man!" Keannu praised Raddie, who was often the decision-maker of the group.
The problem was that their tastes were completely different. They ended up adding water and fish sauce dozens of times, and kept switching to larger pots.
"This tastes perfect, certified by future SeeDs," Raddie and Keannu nodded at each other. "Acma, do you want to do a quality check on this perfect rice soup?"
"Coming! Great work, guys!" Acma exclaimed as she ran over, but her smile quickly faded. "What is this?"
"Rice soup. A great dish for a large party with low expectations," Raddie smirked.
"But I don't see any rice," Acma said, swallowing her disappointment, hoping for a miracle.
"It's at the bottom," Raddie explained, using a long spatula to stir the bottom of the pot. A few sad grains of rice floated halfway up, unable to reach the surface of the deep pot.
"How much rice did you put in?" Acma slowly unfold the problem to the boys.
"Just a handful, I think," Raddie replied, sensing that something was off.
"A handful of rice in a full five-gallon pot," Acma emphasized.
"Yes?" Raddie started to panic.
"I'm sorry… this is great so far. But I think we need a bigger pot or we should pour out some water," Acma trailed off. "Because we haven't added the carrots yet." She glanced at Shrewdya, who had taken over the chopping duty after almost being decapitated by Acma's sword.
"I'm working on it! I'm halfway there," Shrewdya nagged. "The cutting board is full anyway, so why don't you place the cut carrots into the soup now?" she suggested.
They agreed to Shrewdya's suggestion. Once the chopped carrots were in the simmering pot, Acma hesitantly gestured towards Shrewdya's hand.
"Shrewdya... did you... how many fingernails do you have?" Acma noticed that some of Shrewdya's left-hand fingernails were missing.
Shrewdya's jaw dropped as she frantically looked at the rice soup. "Freaking Hyne!"
"Aaahhh..." Timeth suddenly made a noise from his busy corner.
"Timeth, are you..." Acma just noticed Timeth's perfect dough.
"Aaahhh choo!" Timeth sneezed, releasing the most powerful sneeze he had ever experienced. "Sorry, there was too much flour in the air. What?"
Everyone's attention turned to the dough in front of Timeth, which was now contaminated by his germs.
"Why didn't you put on your facemask, Timeth?" Acma facepalmed. "This is going to be a disaster."
Due to the limited time remaining, the gang decided to quietly finish whatever they could. To their surprise, Zyma didn't seem to have any standards, true to his word. He happily brought out the dishes to serve his guests.
"My King, my Queen! What a pleasure!" They heard his voice from the main room.
Soon, the scent of tobacco and alcohol permeated the main room, making its way into the kitchen. It was a subdued party, with the only audible sound being a repetitive song playing in a loop, its rhythm going, "Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, clap clap." Despite the relatively quiet atmosphere, the gang could observe at least ten cars parked in the front yard.
"I'm sorry to get you all involved," Acma said, avoiding eye contact with anyone.
"Don't blame yourself. I have to admit, this is the most enjoyable way to spend my weekend. I'm just curious about what's happening out there. Why is everyone so silent?" Raddie exclaimed, his gaze fixed on the small holes in the kitchen, hoping to catch a glimpse of any suspicious activities in the main room.
"Yeah. At least I can say that I cooked rice soup. I'll need that once I leave our cafeteria and open my martial arts school in Dollet," Keannu shared.
"Aren't you planning to become a SeeD?" Acma asked.
"No, I never want to. The Garden is just a good place for orphans to grow up, you know," Keannu explained. "But I do enjoy martial arts, and I'd love to share what I've learned here with other kids."
Acma nodded in agreement with Keannu's plan. "Let me know if I can help you with anything, Keannu. You'll be a great instructor."
"Can we go now? We can sneak out through the window, right? It's almost curfew time," Shrewdya reminded the group.
"Right..." Acma glanced at Timeth. "Let me go out and find Zyma..."
Just as Acma was about to reach the door, the devil walked in.
"Good job, guys! Everyone loved your food," Zyma smiled. "Are you eager to go back and continue your secret business?" He looked at Acma and then glanced at Timeth in the corner, who didn't seem to understand what Zyma was referring to.
"Um, yeah. We won't be able to get into the school after curfew," Acma replied.
"Very well. Use my car. Use the window to get out," Zyma placed his car key into Acma's hand. "Good night!"
"But..." Acma called out, but Zyma disappeared into the main room.
She turned back to her friends.
"Does anyone know how to drive?"
Ten minutes later...
"Be careful, Raddie. I don't think you turned on the right switch," Shrewdya lightly slapped Raddie's wrist.
"What kind of control is this? It looks so different from the cars we usually have in simulations," Raddie complained.
"It's very old, from the post-war era. The previous war," Keannu bit his lips.
"Is there a manual in the glove box?" Acma reached out to open the glove box, which spilled out a lot of strange-looking pieces of clothing.
"What are these filthy things?" Keannu asked.
Acma remembered Zyma tossing Ifrit's briefs to her when they first met and couldn't continue her train of thought. She quickly put the clothing back using her knuckles. "You don't want to know!"
"Okay, it's almost curfew time. We have to go anyway. Trust me, guys," Raddie prepared everyone.
"What else can we do?" Acma sighed. "Go for it, Raddie. We're counting on you."
After a loud noise, the car started moving, but unfortunately in the wrong direction and collided with another car with a loud bang from behind.
"Shit!" Raddie exclaimed. "Urghhh, should we run or talk to the owner?"
"I don't think we even know how to run this car anyway..." Acma facepalmed.
"Umm..." Shrewdya turned around to look at the car they had hit. "This car looks oddly familiar. The license plate number too!"
"What's going on? Oh no, it's my car!" A familiar voice quickly approached the group.
"Instructor... Trepe?" The whole gang shouted, but she wasn't the only school official at the tournament.
Balamb Garden. Xu's headmaster office.
The entire gang, including Zyma, was brought into Xu's office. It turned out that their tournament was for Triple Triad, a game that Quistis and Xu were hardcore enthusiasts. Zyma's mistake was employing underage labor, especially from Balamb Garden.
Xu began to lecture the group, trying to find out who was behind the whole thing and why. However, just as she was about to deliver the verdict, she excused herself from the room.
"Quistis... take over. My stomach hurts. I'll be right back!" Xu said, leaving Quistis in charge.
Quistis took over and began to cite the Garden's rules on curfew and outside activities. However, Acma could perceive a certain uneasiness in her mentor's demeanor.
"Um... Why is Xu taking so long? Wait here, I'll go find her," Quistis said, slightly bending forward due to stomach discomfort. She left the gang to their own discussions in the office.
"This is it... the end of my career that hasn't even started," Shrewdya complained.
"I'm so hungry," Raddie groaned, clutching his belly.
"Didn't you guys eat dinner?" Zyma furrowed his brow. "There's plenty of food left in the kitchen."
"We..."
Acma coughed, preventing Keannu from making matters worse.
"What are you hiding?" Zyma asked, suspicion in his eyes.
"Did you eat the food?" Acma inquired.
"No, I don't eat dinner," he replied dismissively. "What's the deal with the food?"
Acma rolled her eyes at his disregard for one of the most fundamental human needs.
"What do you mean you don't eat dinner?"
"Har har, funny pupil, knowing so little about your sensei. Did you try to poison me?"
"No! It's just… some hygiene concerns, totally unintentional," Acma replied.
"Is that why they're occupying the bathrooms? Shit, I should have anticipated this and brought some medicine..." Zyma shook his head.
"We're in deep trouble, and making money is the only thing you can think of?" Acma couldn't hide her frustration. "Unbelievable!"
"Look," Zyma replied calmly. "I'm sure they're not going to do anything. They're my guests too, remember? Just pray that they can come back from whatever explosion they're having right now."
Ten more minutes passed, and the Garden committee members returned, looking utterly exhausted.
Quistis approached Shrewdya and asked an unexpected question. "Shrewdya, raise your hands. I want to see them... turn them around," Quistis said, and after some confirmation, she nodded and let go of Shrewdya's hands.
Thirty seconds ticked by without anyone saying anything. They all looked at each other, glancing at Shrewdya's hands, and then at Quistis.
"Hee hee hee heee…"
It was Keannu who broke the silent contest.
Shrewdya quickly followed him, bursting into laughter, clutching her stomach while trying to say, "I'm sorry…"
Quistis joined her, taking a chair to laugh along despite her stomachache.
The others quickly realized what had happened and joined in the laughter, except for Zyma.
"What's going on?" he whispered to Acma, who was rolling off the bench, unable to contain her amusement.
"Manicure... in the soup… Miss Trepe…" Acma managed to say between laughs.
A sudden realization dawned on Zyma, and he scoffed, whispering into Acma's ear, "Those nails, if you can find them, will be worth a fortune as a rare collectible. Think of their journey in and out of a hot Legendary SeeD…"
"No, thanks," Covering her face, Acma laughed and shook her head, unwilling to consider the idea.