I don't own Isekai Izakaya Nobu (or Restaurant to Another World, Food Wars, or MHA-They belong to their owners). This was something that I started in 2021 and never posted. So I thought I finish and post it. Don't expect a big story though.

…

My name is Katsuki Bakugou-and I am the number one Chef of the eatery, Izakaya Bakugou!

…Well, not really. But I'm a close second. That title, sadly, belongs to my dad, Masaru Bakugou. He owns this restaurant that I took over. He would still be cooking here if he didn't have that hiking accident during his vacation that he took with my mother, Mitsuki Bakugou.

It tore up his leg so bad that he couldn't stand on it anymore (except for a few minutes at a time). But he and the Old Hag come over once a month to help figure out the costs of the new ingredients we'll need for the next month. All in all, I was doing a FANTASTIC job taking over, and even the Old Hag couldn't really complain (although she kept finding a way).

You would think all of this was normal, except for one thing:

The front door to the eatery leads to an alternate universe!

A fantasy alternate universe. Yeah, with knights, princes/princesses, dragons, and elves.

That's sincerely true-I'm not joking (I took a temperature check just to make sure)!

….

In fact, my employees are from that world. One, I call Stupid Hair. He was a Dragon Changling; he had a human form and a dragon form.

His human form had red hair that defied gravity and was formed into spikes. He had a mouth made of shark teeth, and he was always naked from the waist up. He wore a black open-faced vest daily (outside of his work uniform) and red pants with black accents. There were scars decorating his skin like a canvas. When I asked him about it, he replied, "Chicks dig scars, Bakubro! They're super manly!"

I decided to let it go in favor of never hearing those words again.

My other employee, I call her Frog-Face. She had dark-green hair that fell to her lower back, webbed fingers and toes, and a very long tongue. She had onyx-colored eyes and a nice personality (to everyone but me, but she's a hard worker so I don't bother with it) and all the customers love her.

She was a frog demon, which is basically the main reason why she resembles a frog. However, she was perfect for waitressing. She told me that she used to waitress at another bar, but was kicked out when they found out she was a demon.

(I told her that was a bull-crap excuse, which caused her eyes to lit up-she treated me a little better after that.)

It took me a while to adjust, but when I did, I treated everyone like a regular human from my world. Especially these quartet of friends that came whenever they had a chance.

One was a knight of the kingdom, Tenya Iida-I call him Sonic the Hedgehog because of how fast he was…and of his blue hair.

Another one was a Witch, Ochako Uraraka-I call her Kirby, because she was basically the human, female version of Kirby (a game I played when I was younger).

The third, a prince, Shoto Todoroki, the heir to the Todoroki Kingdom, who had the power of fire and ice. His hair was half red, half white. I call him Half-and-Half.

The fourth was an elf, Izuku Midoriya, a higher elf of the elven forest…

…who had a bone to pick with me.

…

The first time I met the elf was when the quartet was coming back from their second journey. My restaurant was closed at that time and my employees had gone home. Iida had opened the door and stated in an authoritarian voice that they needed food because one of their own was on the verge of collapse.

It was the prince-I tsked and began prep.

"I'm an elf, sir. I won't be able to eat anything made of animals or from animals. I understand if that is too much for you at this time, so, if need be, my friends and I could go somewhere else." My red eyes narrowed as I looked at the little brat who was looking at me as if I was a nuisance.

I gritted my teeth and uttered, "It's not a problem. Just watch your friend and I'll bring your food in a minute." His green eyes widened, then narrowed as he analyzed me. He let out a huff and went back to his group.

I brought out some water and three steaming bowls of pork ramen. The knight thanked me and he, the witch, and the prince started eating at once. The elf narrowed his gaze as I walked back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, I came back, holding a tofu steak with ponzu sauce and a plate of rice. Placing it in front of the elf, I muttered, "Enjoy." I turned to walk back to the kitchen when I felt a hand grasp my sleeve.

"Like I said before, I can't eat anything from animals."

I turned and threw his hand off of me, "And I told you, not a problem." It took everything not to curse that darn elf out.

I started cleaning the counter when I heard that prince guy utter, "Midoriya, what's wrong? You have a strange look on your face. Is it your food?"

The girl uttered, "It can't be the food, Todoroki. He's still eating…rather ravenously too. Not to mention, this is the best food I ever had." I smirked at her words and continued my last tasks. Shoes tapped at the wooden floor and a plate was slammed on the table. Smirk still in place, I looked up. This Midoriya guy was gripping onto the plate tightly, glaring at me.

"How did you do that?! A human shouldn't have the talent to overcome ME with cooking. I'm the best chef in my whole village; there must be a trick!" My smirk only widened.

"Yeah. It's called skill. You might need to hone yours Deku."

The elf's look of rage turned into one of confusion, "What does 'Deku' mean?"

I let out a chuckle, "It means 'useless'. Like you with cooking, apparently." His face turned red and he gritted his teeth. I laughed, causing him to get even redder.

"Midoriya, don't be rude!" The knight gripped onto the elf's wrist. He bowed his head, "I promise we'll pay you the next time we come in; we don't have our coin at the moment." He took out his sword and placed it on the counter.

"Take this as collateral. We WILL return." The knight, witch, and prince left at once, but the elf kept looking at me, taking halting steps after his friends.

He then pointed at me, "I'll make something even better than what you make. I swear it." I couldn't help but be a little impressed, even if it irritated the crap out of me.

"Just try."

…..

Back in the present, Frog Face gave me the order for the French bread maker of the town (Truffle Mac and Cheese with extra cheese). I just started the cheese mixture when those footsteps came again, although a little more hesitant.

I looked up at the elf, who was looking away from me, rubbing his arm in a haltingly manner, "The…tempura burger was pretty good. I'm impressed." I shrugged.

"Not that I'm looking for your praise, but I'm pretty proud of myself-I made that recipe up just now, I swear."

He looked up at me in shock, "YOU made it UP?! A HUMAN?!"

I glared, "Just because you're a noble elf or whatever, doesn't mean I won't punch you, you piece of crap!" He gasped, before looking down.

"You're right, that was uncalled for. I apologize." Now I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. The last few weeks, this guy kept coming every day. He always reminded me (ALWAYS) that he couldn't eat anything with animals-but joke's on him, we have vegan recipes out of our butts.

He had eaten the food I made him with a scowl the first few times after he came in with his group. However, I noticed that he seemed to be pondering the food as he ate, as if trying to figure out the ingredients I put into it. He seemed to focus extra hard on the chocolate cake I gave him made with tofu and soy milk. I guess he likes sweets.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something." I stirred the pot of pasta, giving a grunt of recognition. He cleared his throat and continued, "Is it…possible…for me to work here?" With that question, I looked up in shock.

"…Why? If it's to sabotage me-."

The elf shook his head, "I'm not going to do that, I promise. It's just…well…Toshinori apparently comes here sometimes…and…he's my stepfather and the leader of my village-."

"… Toshinori?"

Deku (because I'm calling him that now-no one can stop me) nodded, "He's stick-thin, has blond hair with two tufts in the front-sticks up in the back, black eyes with blue pupils…"

I lit up at the description, remembering the kind elf that came in once every week. He was almost like a second father to me. "Yeah, I remember him. He's more polite than you."

Deku winced, "Yeah, there's a reason for that. He wasn't raised in an elf community like I was. Until I tasted your cooking, I always believed that elves were naturally better than humans at everything. So, this is a big blow to my pride."

I smirked, "I'm just that good."

Deku game me a flat look, "Anyway, I want to work here so I can learn how you think or what you do when it comes to cooking. I promise I'll do my best. So please let me." He gave me a polite bow. I really, really wanted to say 'Forget it.' I wanted to push him out the door.

But…I couldn't.

He reminded me too much of myself when I asked my Old Hag to work here. I swallowed my pride and bowed before my mother. My father took me aside and told me that I had done something worth making him proud of me: becoming humble. And that's what Deku is doing right now.

"…Okay."

….

The next day, Deku walked into the restaurant, wearing the serving outfit I gave him. It was an orange yukata with orange leggings. There was a red obi around his waist and red bandages around his wrists (yeah, those were for decoration, but I thought it looked cool, okay?!). Since his sandals weren't going to cut it in the restaurant world, I loaned him my old red sneakers for him to use on his workdays. His green hair was up in a ponytail, which I gave him props for-at least he's aware of hygiene in a kitchen. His green eyes were serious as he gave me full, undivided attention.

They were quite unsettling, but it was also kind of flattering in a way-like in another world, he could've been my little brother that always followed my example. I cleared my throat and held out my arm.

"Well, at least you don't look like a total loser. Follow me-I'll show you where everything is and tell you your duties." He bristled at the 'loser' comment but kept himself under control. That's good-sometimes people that come into our restaurant are worse than that but not by much.

I walked him over to the pickup counter. "This is where you will pick up the dishes and serve them to the customers. You told me that you don't eat any meat-are you uncomfortable serving it?" He shook his head. I nodded to myself: so far, so good.

I gave him a copy of the seating chart. "These are the numbers of the tables that are in the restaurant. They tell you what meal belongs at which table. For example, if I prepared a dish that was for table 4, you take that dish to this table." I pointed to the table that had a written '4' on the seating chart. He nodded solemnly.

"Now, you might need to wash the dishes sometimes to help with Frog Face. Will that be a problem?" He shook his head again.

"I also prepare meals for the staff. With your restrictions in mind, I can easily include you in those-is that alright with you?" He nodded.

"And I haven't forgotten about what you wanted, so here's what we'll do: we close temporarily for a couple hours to get prepared for the dinner shift. During that time, I'll teach you about the various ingredients I use as well as a bunch of cooking techniques. Is that alright with you?"

He nodded so fast I felt a wind on my face. Still, I couldn't help but admire his enthusiasm.

….

It was time for me to teach Deku about some cooking. And what better way than to start with one ingredient that is very treasured in my country: Miso paste.

I prepared a glass of water for Deku and took out three different types. I figured it would provide a better teaching experience than just telling him about it. I made sample spoons of white miso, regular miso, and dark miso.

The differences among them should fill Deku with interest. He might even be able to make some of his own since this world has soybeans. I called him to the kitchen.

He was laughing a little bit with Kirishima as he walked over. When he started this morning, I thought he was going to be kind of a snot-nosed brat, but it turned out fine. He was very attentive to the customers, didn't make a face when he served meat, and even cheered my fellow employees up sometimes. I think he kind of needed this job-not only to get out every once in a while, but to make new friendships. Yuck, I sound like a loser.

"It's time for your first lesson, Deku." Deku nodded and walked up. "Here are samples of an ingredient that I use in a lot of my cooking. I provided you with three different variations of the ingredient. I want you to taste each one. Take a small gulp of water between samples and tell me what the differences are among them."

He nodded and picked up the spoon with the white miso. "Hmm…this had a mildly sweet note, but otherwise…" He took another lick of the sample. "…Maybe a bit of salt." He then took a sip of water and took the spoon of regular miso. "Whoa, this doesn't taste sweet at all! It's a very salty, but mild in another flavor I don't recognize." He took another sip of water and picked up the last spoon. "WOW! It's very deep and complex and really salty…even more so than the second one!" He took a longer gulp of water, making smacking noises with his tongue, as if trying to flick any remaining salt out.

I nodded, "Can you tell me what dishes go with each type of miso?" He frowned, staring at the different types.

"The dark miso goes with hearty dishes, like meat or fish…those types of dishes have deep flavors like that one. The regular miso goes well with that miso soup you serve customers here…but it can also be used for…lighter meats, like salmon..?" He turned to me, looking to see if he was right. It was his first time, so I gave him a nod. He grinned, before picking up the spoon that held the white miso. "And this one can be used for…savory desserts or white fish…maybe even turned into a dressing for vegetables?"

I smirked, "Pretty good for a first try." He grinned back.