Finding My Special Ingredient

Chapter 10- First Day of Hell

3rd person's pov

"I finally have a chance to stomp you flat, Yukihira Soma!" Takumi, or as they know him as blond guy, said. "Well, goood for you, congrats. I get that you are trying to pick a fight, but you can get your foot off now." Soma said, the pain finally getting to him. "All right everyone." Hinako said, attracting everyone's attention, including Soma and Takumi, who finally got his foot off Soma's. "I will be sitting right hereso if you have any questions about today's assignment, feel free to ask." Hinako said eating her Kaki No Tane. "Um, Inui sensei? You haven't even told us what the assignment is yet." A student voiced out. "Oh, I haven't? Goodness, I guess I had best explain it, then. My assignment is to use these ingredients here to cook a Japanese main dish. Any dish will be fine." Hinako said which Aika got almost immediately and left, nearly nobody noticing it except Hinako. "Um chef? There isn't anything there." Another student said which made her look back at them. "Yes there is. There are a lot of things! Bountiful nature, a blue river, it's a treasure trove of wonderful ingredients. This building and property have long been privately held by the Totsuki Institute. A fence marks it's boundaries. If you cross that fence, you fail. To pass this assignment, you must find your ingredients inside this area only, prepare them and present them to me in a Japanese dish that meets my approval. Any seasonings, oils and utensils you may need are provided in this room. You may also use any of the fishing rods and hunting equipment located in the shed. You have two hours. Ready, begin!" Hinako said as she claps her hands. 'Huh? What was that?' A student thought. 'She needs to speak louder.' Another student grumbled. It was only after a few moments of silence did the students started to panic. "First, we need to research what fish are in that river!" A female student said. "Sweet fish. Grilled sweet fish would work, wouldn't it?" Her partner said but the female countered back saying that she doesn't know if they are in season right now. "Whatever! We've only got two hours, we got to hurry!" One of them shouted as most of the students rush out the door to the shed for equipment.

"Let's make a contest out of it, Yukihira." Takumi said. "A contest?" Soma asked. "Yes. Let's decide which one of us is better, once and for all." Takumi said walking to Hinako after that. "Inui sensei, I would like to hand over this decision to you. Your impartial judgement can put this matter to a rest and declare for all which one of us made the better dish." Takumi said, seeming to have 'planned' this out. "Hm? Why would I want to do that? It has nothing to do with my assignment so I would rather not, thanks anyways." Hinako said, not having a single interest in this battle. "O-oh, I see..." Takumi said, not expecting it, making the atmosphere pretty awkward till Isami burst out laughing. "So now what? Your antics have really turned this awkward, you know." Soma said while Takumi blushed in embarrassment. "That was so lame, big bro." Isami said, still laughing. "Sh- Shut up! You don't start laughing too!" Takumi said, feeling humiliated. 'Big bro? They are related?' Tadokoro thought, totally shocked. 'They don't look anything alike!' Soma thought as he looked at the both of them. "Anyway, I will never lose to you, Yukihira! Anything you make, I will make it better." Takumi said, pointing his finger at Soma. "Okay, time to go, Onii-chan." Isami said while he dragged the shouting Takumi away from the room. "What was that about?" Soma asked, not understanding Takumi. "S-Soma-kun, we ought to hurry too!" Tadokoro thought as she realised how much time has passed. Majority of the students outside were at the river as expected from Aika. 'I wonder how many of them are going to fail. So simple minded.' Aika thought as she looked at them before continuing to gather her ingredients. 

"Damn it, I can't catch a thing!" A student shouted out. "Quiet down you idiot! You are scaring the fish away!" Another student that was fishing shouted to him. "Stupid. Two wrong doesn't make a right. You shouting at him is also scaring the fish away." Aika mumbled as she gathered her home made flour that she was making, immediately starting on another batch as this batch didn't come out the way she wanted. "Okay, we got one. We can use it to make a Meuniere and-" The guy was cut of  by his partner that said they don't have any flour. "I told you to go find bamboo shoots or something out there." Another guy said. "I tried! I looked everywhere but I couldn't find a thing!" His partner argue back, not seeing the bamboo shoot on the ground right in front of them. 'When people are thrust into sudden unforeseen situations, their field of vision shrinks considerably. Their thoughts scatter and go in circles. They don't think choices or actions through. This assignment is just a small test. Any chef who fails something as minor as this has no place in Totsuki.' Hinako thought as she sips on her tea, looking pretty evil. While Soma was fishing quietly, Tadokoro was fidgeting and pacing around. "We have to hurry and start cooking soon. Soma-kun, have you decided on what to cook yet?" Tadokoro asked, panicking big time. 'If we catch a Char or a Rainbow Trout, we could grill it or should we boil it in soy sauce instead? And what about the garnish? We need to forage for vegetables too.' Soma thought while he fished. "Maybe, but don't you think everybody else is going to do the same thing? I wanna try to mix it up a little." Soma said as he concentrated back to fishing. "This isn't the time for that! Our biggest worry is finishing any dish!" Tadokoro said as Soma agreed with her thought, still thinking of a dish to make.