[PART 1 - FIRST SEMESTER] The story of five Bronze Saints going to school begins!
Takes place post-Hades. Anime-only storyline.
Parody remakes of classic SS known as Bizarro Dreams are included. Expect these once per in-story week for the Sanctuary...
Alicia takes Hyoga to a monja restaurant, and he's surprised that food must be prepared rather than served. He feels the tension rise when the ingredients are randomly poured and mixed on the table. Alicia explains this is how it works. Meanwhile, he observes with disgust and refuses to eat since such a sight cannot be called food. Since he's about to get sick, the meeting is cut short. They awkwardly go their separate ways.
Class topics for this week: Recap for finals.
The weather is sunny, cloudy mix.
--------------------------------------------
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
[July 9, Monday - week 2]
Hyoga and Alicia are on their way to another restaurant as part of their monthly restaurant run. Since there were no club meetings due to upcoming final exams, they didn't waste time taking the subway to their destination. Lucky for them, they manage to find a seat.
"Monja?" Hyoga asks.
"Exactly! It's not noodles, but a different meal."
Alicia has been giving a brief explanation about Monja or Monjayaki since they stepped inside the train. She explained that monja is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter, and she was escorting him to a restaurant in another neighborhood that specializes in monja.
"So by batter, you mean it's liquid of some kind?"
"Yeah! When baking, they must make a batter first. Think of it as a prerequisite before baking a cake by making batter first."
"I'll understand better once I see it for myself."
"It's better this way than me explaining it."
"By the way, how did you come up with it?"
"I've heard about it but never got the chance to try it. Besides, I'm a little nervous trying it by myself, but I never had anyone to go with."
Alicia notices they have almost arrived.
"We're almost at the stop. We get off and go to this restaurant..." Alicia pulls an article cut out from her school bag. "...that I found in this magazine. It's highly rated and recommended."
They get off the train once it stops at the station and follow the article's instructions on arriving at the restaurant. Once there, they find a seat and sit on opposite sides, separated by a grilled table.
"Alicia-san, there's metal on the table."
"The metal is for the batter."
"As in pouring the batter here?"
"Yes!" Alicia nods.
"Every table has one, but I don't see anyone pouring anything. And also, there aren't many employees compared to the amount of tables."
"You see the truth is..."
A waiter shows up with bowls filled with ingredients and individually places them on the sides of the metal tray. Hyoga calls out as soon as the waiter turns his back to walk away.
"Wait a sec! You're leaving them like that?"
"You mix them," the waiter says, then walks away.
"Alicia-san, what's the meaning of this?"
"The truth is you prepare the meal by mixing all these ingredients onto the metal tray here. That's how you make the batter that I've mentioned."
"But that doesn't seem right..."
"That's the truth. Let me show you how it's done."
Alicia takes a bowl of vegetables and pours them onto the hot tray. She follows up with seafood, flour, and meat bowls and mixes them using the provided spatulas. Then, she uses a large spoon to form a hole in the mix to make space for the batter she pours. She mixes again once the batter boils and flattens with the spatula to allow the ingredients to cook. Once the mix hardens, she grabs a sample portion with a spatula fork and eats it. Meanwhile, Hyoga has been looking at the process with disgust.
"That's how it's made and done!" Alicia smiles. She eats some more to her own satisfaction. But her smile does nothing to ease his discomfort.
"Alicia-san, how can you call such a thing food?"
"You don't look so good. Are you okay?"
She notices him hunching downward as if in pain.
"I can't do this, Alicia-san. I'm sorry..."
He grabs his bag and rushes out of the restaurant as other people look on. Alicia runs after him, concerned about his well-being.
"Hyoga-kun..."
They stare at each other silently for a bit.
"See you at school, okay?" Her eyes quiver as if she's about to burst into tears at any second.
He nods silently as he walks away. Alicia returns to the restaurant, presumably to pay her bill.
Even though the neighborhood is far from the dorm, he returns safely from the subway station. He refuses to eat for the rest of the evening even though he enjoys Seiya's cooking, which Seiya takes as offense until Shiryu explains the situation. Seiya then saves his friend's plate for later.
