Toriko: Namu's Buffet.
Chapter 2: "Hunter and Chef."
As Namu came closer to the Cavern Lagoon, he couldn't help but be a little surprised by all the other bishokuya trying to get a taste of the phantom fish - the Puffer Whale. "Huh," he thought, "a lot more than I expected. Is the Puffer Whale really as good as Gramps says it is?" just then, Namu noticed two familiar faces, "Eh? OI! TORIKO! COCO!" Namu began to walk closer to his friends when he noticed another familiar face, "Huh? Komatsu? What are you doin' here?"
"I came with Toriko-san and Coco-san to catch the Puffer Whale."
"Really? Small world."
"Hey Namu, you and Komatsu know each other?" Toriko asked as he slapped Namu on the back, "Yeah, I ate at Hotel Gourmet a few days ago. He's a really good cook."
"Thank you, Namu-san." Komatsu said, politely.
"What's with all this '-san' nonsense? Just call me Namu." he said with a smile.
"All right." Komatsu replied.
Namu looked around to see the competition, "Hmm," he thought "a lot o' these guys are probably gonna jump anyone who succeeds in catching the Puffer Whales. I should probanly find someone to team up wi-" Namu completely lost his train of thought when he noticed the same beautiful pink-haired woman from the city. She was wearing a simple, green tank-top with a floral pattern on it, as well as some bellbottom jeans, a pair of heels, a light brown marquis-style belt and some leather gloves. But what stuck out about her most was her long, hot pink hair and sky blue eyes. One thing that caught Namu's eye was a large, bladed weapon on her hip. It was too small to be a sword, "Is that a kitchen knife?" Namu thought, "Wait! Is she a chef? Wait a minute. Why am I surprised she's a chef? She has as much of a right to be here as any bishokuya." just then, Toriko, Coco and Komatsu walked up to him. "Welp, we're goin' in. Wanna come with?" Toriko asked, "Actually, I've got something to take care of. You go on without me." Namu replied.
As Toriko and co. went into Cavern Lagoon, Namu walked up to the pink-haired woman, "Hey," he said kindly, "I'm Namu." she just ignored him, "Helloooo?" Namu said as he waved his hand in front of her face. Irritated, she grabbed his arm, "What do you want?!" she barked, "Easy, easy." Name said as he raised his hands as if at gunpoint, "I was just wondering what a chef was doing here."
"Care to rephrase that?" she asked, sternly. Namu cleared his throat.
"What I meant was, I knew there'd be a lot of bishokuya here, but I didn't expect to see any chefs."
"I don't need a bishokuya to protect me, if that's what you're asking." she said with an annoyed look on her face.
"That's not what I meant." Namu said nervously.
"Then what did you mean?" she asked as she brought her face right in front of his.
"What I meant was, it's pretty dangerous in there. How 'bout we team up to catch the Puffer Whale?"
The woman stepped back from Namu, rubbing her chin with her fingers and looking to her right as she weighed her options.
"Fine. But this isn't permanent."
"That's fine."
As Namu and the pink-haired woman walked toward the entrance to Cavern Lagoon, Namu realized something and stopped for a moment, "What's your name?" he asked.
"Tsubaki." she said as she kept walking.
"Interesting," Namu thought to himself, "Could she be the one Gramps was talking about? Oh well, I'll find out soon enough." With that, Namu and Tsubaki entered the Cavern Lagoon, not truly knowing how dangerous it truly was…
End of Chapter.