// Yukihira Soma x Reader //

21

The audience gasps but I don't stop working. I look around to see what exactly caused the commotion and see Megumi looking at a big monkfish curiously with a sharp knife in her hand.

My mouth goes agape but I close it and smile quickly. I wonder how she'll manage to prepare it. The thing with Megumi is that everyone underestimates her.

But I truly believe she is more than what is on the surface. I want to go to the finale with her and Soma. I'm rooting for it. With every cut she took to the monkfish, I became more and more surprised.

Yeah, Megumi is awesome.

"We'll soon be out of time! Everyone, please get your dishes ready!"

A tiny curse fell out of my mouth and I quickly tried to get all the finishing touches in as I hear Urara count down. Five.. four.. three.. two... one!

"That's it!"

I let out all the air I held in and felt my nerves creep back up onto me. The judging is about to start. I look at my creation and sigh.

"Now then, it's time for judgment to begin! Your guide will be me, Kawashima Urara! Cutesy!" She does a pose; poking her cheek, and her fan club bursts out in applause.

"We have five judges.. each of whom can award 20 points! In other words, food will be judged on a scale, with 100 being a perfect score. Only the four top-scoring contestants will move on to the finals."

Four contestants. I take a breath and look at everyone in Block B. Four out of us. A queasy feeling is coming over me.

"Now for our first contestant! Judges, if you please!" The first person goes up and my eyes widen. It's all becoming real. I don't think I want to see the judge's reaction when I feed them my curry.

The judges gave their input and it seemed like his curry was going to get a high rating until I saw the big and blue 33 on the scoreboard. My jaw dropped. They were completely leading him on.

More and more contestants came up and the scores went up and down like a carousel. No one has reached 40 points yet. But surprisingly instead of making me even more scared, it sort of made me more determined.

"The string of harsh reviews continues! Now then, our next dish..!" Before Urara finished her sentence, she gagged and brought a hand to her face.

An indescribable smell entered my nose. What the actual hell is that?

"That reeks! What is that stench?"

It smells like death, murder, and everything bad. Like Urara, I quickly bring my hand to my nose in an attempt to make the smell more bearable.

"Eat up... It's Nao Sadatsuka's special, pitch-black Laksa curry!" The black-haired chef raises the lid and the smell becomes even stronger! What the actual hell?!?

"Hell has arrived on Earth! I can't imagine something like this at a venue meant to celebrate fine cuisine! It's a scene from Hell itself!"

It is hell and I'm trying to find a way to get rid of the smell. I grab a napkin off of the countertop and hold it over my nose. It's not working any better than before.

"This powerful stench that turns the nose.. don't tell me!" One of the judges questioned.

"It's kusaya." The black-haired girl said.

"I knew it! Why the hell would you use that in curry, you fool!"

"What's more, this is my own special blend that uses flying fish and mahi-mahi. This dish uses a kusaya broth I've made oh-so-carefully."