You'll Be Just Fine (BxB Budo x Taro Next Gen Main Ship)

Chapter 7 - A World Shattering Performance! Pt 1

-Saturday Evening, April 18th, 2037, 6 pm, Clear-

A golden sunset was by the horizon of Buraza Town. Ryukon was being driven to the competition by his parents. His younger twin brothers, Tsukitei and Obi, were in the back seat with him while Tenzen stayed home. Ryukon was currently reviewing the plan in his mind.

"Are you ready for this event?" Budo asked, "the deadline was so close and I know you don't like to be in front of people too much..."

"Oh, he has your readiness, Budo," Taro replied, "I feel like he will be just fine. He's just cooking after all. He doesn't have to speak... At least I don't think so."

Ryukon didn't bother to reply. His brothers were both glaring at him in sync. They smelled his guilt.

____________________________________________________________________________

When they arrived at Buraza Grand Kitchen, Ryukon entered the building with his parents. They didn't expect the building to be like a refrigerator. There was a large audience and even a camera crew for this event. Based on the camera's, he picked up that it was a live event that was going to be televised. If it wasn't so cold, Ryukon would be sweating from this being on national tv. He looked around and saw Keito and Tameko.

"I knew you would come..." she started, "don't try that stunt you did yesterday about you running away again... You know we'll find you... T'is a small world..."

She hit the top of his head with a wooden spoon and walked off, holding her head high to her spot on stage. Ryukon ran over to Keito.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Ryukon asked.

Don't worry about it... What are you doing here?... I didn't know you liked this kind of stuff..." he then thought again, "then again, this stuff isn't that far from you, is it?...."

"I'm in the Cooking Club," Ryukon replied.

Keito raised both brows, impressed that he got in so quickly. He rubbed his head where he was hit with the spoon, "I won't ask... However, I will ask you this," he said, then grew a little grin, "you maybe want to come over tonight?... We need to talk about a few things-"

"Sure! I have time!" Ryukon then made a rewind from how fast he answered.

"You seem eager..." Keito said.

Ryukon's mind thought back to the night they kissed. The thought began to warm him up in this chilly kitchen and he couldn't stop smiling. Keito's group just looked at him. The four boys folded their hands together and looked at the ground, as if they were at a funeral. They then went to sit down in their seats.

"Maybe when you come over, you can cook something. My mother would probably like that..."

Ryukon thought about how Keito's parents managed to be together. One was sweeter than the pies she made while the other woman was tough enough to scratch diamond. Perhaps Keito's baking mother was more fit than he thought.

"RYUKON. OVER." Tameko called.

Ryukon was pulled back to reality and ran up on stage. Keito gave a slight wave goodbye and went to go sit. The camera crew was scanning the audience members. Ayano was caught in the audience, clapping along with everyone else, puzzled. She couldn't put her finger on why her daughters brought her along. They never took much of an interest in the culinary arts.

The camera crew then pointed their attention toward the stage. A vibrant male host with purple curly hair walked out on stage.

"GOOOOOOOOOOD EVENING EVERYBODY!" the host boomed, "welcome to the 95th annual Buraza Cooking Competition! We have the top 4 schools in the area to win the first place Young Chef's Trophy! They bring a huge honor to our country, and the winner will be able to go to the internationals!"

The audience cheered and rooted for their school's teams. Budo was filming the event on his phone. He noted the unprepared look on his son's face and began to worry a little. He gave a thumbs up to him as support.

"The first team we have is from Akademi High School from Buraza Town! Second team is Sukuru High School from near Shisuta Town! Our third team is Sokarashi High School of Mata! Lastly have Korijo Academy of.......eh, somewhere in Tokyo..."

The fourth team deadpanned.

"They will each complete three desserts with the last one either making or breaking their chances! Let's get this competition rolling!"

The crowd cheered and gave their wishes of good luck. The teams were given their first recipes and went to work on it. It was gourmet tiramisu. Ryukon watched everyone around him rush about on stage. He saw that the other teams had already got out their dry ingredients and were combining them. Meanwhile, Ryukon was holding a bowl of water and boiling it with his hands,

Ryukon internally fought over what to do first. A few audience members chuckled from his gestures of innocence. He placed the bowl down and got out a few other bowls and a measuring cup, all while eyeing the cameras. They can't catch him actively messing up the recipe. The constant sparkles of flashing cameras weren't helping either. He decided to wait until the final dish to enact his plan. Tameko slammed the counter with a fiery palm near Ryukon to get him to focus. He flinched and got to work.

____________________________________________________________________________

The first two dishes which were tiramisu and a gourmet sundae was simple for the teams. They all were pretty close to being tied at the competition. Then the third recipe came about, which Ryukon had made his trap for.

"The last recipe will be an original! Wow the judges with a recipe that your school holds dearly!" the host said.

The higher the stakes seemed, the more Ryukon felt his throat tighten, "do it for Keito... Do it for Keito... He needs to get out of this group... Do it for him..." he thought, "so she loses... Info White was being dramatic... She'll just try again next year..."

As the groups were preparing their last dish, Ryukon took the container of salt and sugar and stared at each. He then emptied out the sugar in a random bowl and replaced it with salt. He placed the sugar in the salt jar to replace it.

"Sugar. Now!" Tameko ordered.

Ryukon handed her one of the sabotaged containers. She measured blindly and dumbed it into the bowl she was working on.