~~~~Soma~~~~
I was sleeping in my room, waiting for the alarm on my desk to go off, but then I woke up to a familiar voice echoing through the pipes.
"Good morning, Young Yukihiras!" Isshiki said through the pipes, "I could use a bit of your help. Could you two get dressed and come downstairs?"
"No!" I shouted at the ceiling, but then, Isshiki appeared in my ceiling.
I reluctantly got up and started getting dressed. All of a sudden, I heard Isshiki screaming from the other room.
"Please, I'm sorry. I just wanted a little help in the backyard!" He shouted.
"What did I tell you guys about waking me up before I'm ready?" Hikari shouted back. There were a few fumbling rushing noises and a slamming door. All I could do was snicker at Isshiki's mistake and hope that he doesn't make it ever again.
After I got dressed, I walked out of my room to see Hikari with dark circles under eyes and a glint of anger in them.
"You all right, sis?" I asked.
"If I don't get a cup of coffee in the next five seconds I'm gonna have to kill that ceiling pervert." She grumbled.
I chuckled and we went downstairs, making a short pitstop to the kitchen to get my sister a cup of coffee. When we got back to the main hall, we saw Yuki waiting for us.
"I see he woke you two up, too." She chuckled.
"Yeah, he did." I answered groggily.
"So, what did he want us to help him with?" Hikari asked, taking a sip of her coffee, "It'd better be good, or else I'll have to hurt him again this morning."
"Oh, trust me, it's worth it." Yuki said, "We're collecting vegetables from our field."
I looked over at Hikari and saw her eyes widen and her lips stretch into a big smile.
"Seriously?!" She said wide awake, "This I gotta see. You guys come along when you can, I've gotta check this out now."
I couldn't say anything as my sister rushed out of the dorm, leaving me smiling in amusement and Yuki was confused.
"Um, okay, what the heck just happened? She looked like she was dead on her feet and now she just burst through the door like a mad woman."
I chuckled, "Yeah, my sister is a little crazy when it comes to fresh produce and all that stuff. You mentioning a garden was basically a trigger for the Heaven's Senses."
"Well, our dorm's motto is that delicious food only comes from the best ingredients." Yuki said as we walked out of the dorm and around the corner.
We heard a chainsaw going and saw Shun using it a cut a log.
"That's how Shun gets wood for making his smoke dishes." Yuki explained, then we went to a rice workshop where Ryoko was working.
"Ryoko's specialty is making dishes with malted rice, so she has her own workshop just for that."
We continued walked and passed a chicken coop with plenty of chickens wandering around inside.
"As for me, I want to breed a Kyokusei chicken equal to the French poulet de Bresse. And I let them run free-range of course."
Just then, we stood in front of an incredible garden filled from plot to plot with fresh vegetables.
"And then... Isshiki's main area of operation... is here! This garden grows dozens of different vegetables."
I looked around in awe for a bit, but then my awe turned to shock when I saw Isshiki working in practically in nothing as he used a hoe on some of the vegetables.
"Greetings! Hello, Yuki, Soma." Isshiki said, stopping what he was doing and rushing over to us, "A little bit of hard work in the mornings helps soothe the spirits. Let us all sweat together."
I chuckled and backed away a step or two, when I noticed a small scratch on his shoulder then disappeared on his back.
"So, my sister...." I hesitantly asked.
"Oh, yes. She's quite lively in the morning. Left me a nice little scratch." He turned around and showed off the scratch. It went down his shoulder bone.
"Knowing how different ingredients grow is all part of learning how to cook." Isshiki continued talking, "This is known as Kyokusei Field. Or better yet, it should be known as Isshiki Field."
"So..."
"Soma!" A voice shouted from nearby. We turned to see Megumi holding a large basked of freshly picked veggies.
"Oh, Megumi came out, too." I said happy to see my friend out here too.
"Look!" Megumi showed off the veggies, "These are the vegetables that Isshiki grew in his garden. Don't they look amazing?"
"Yeah, Megumi, they really do." I said, "By the way, have you seen Hikari around here? She ran out here before us."
Megumi smiled and nodded, pointing towards the row of tomatoes, "I saw her checking out the tomatoes over there a little bit ago."
We walked closer to the tomatoes and saw my sister cheerfully examining the tomatoes. It was a look I loved seeing on her face, being surrounded by fresh ingredients is when she was her happiest.
"Wow, she's really getting into the veggies, isn't she?" Yuki commented, and I just laughed.
"That's my sis for you. Always excited to examine the freshest produce." I laughed, "Hey sis! Come over here for a second!"
Hikari turned away from the tomatoes and rushed over to me with a ripe tomato in her hand.
"Soma, you've gotta try this. The tomatoes here in the field are ripened to perfection!" Hikari said excitedly.
I happily took the tomato and took a bit. My sister was right as always, the depth of flavor in the tomato was so rich and deep.
"It's so plump and sweet!" I exclaimed, "I'd love to stock up on these for our restaurant. This is a quality product here."
Isshiki laughed, "Yeah, well, I might have spent too much time working on the garden, because unfortunately, I haven't been attending my classes all that much."
We helped out in the garden, we were even given a delicious breakfast prepared by Megumi. Onigiri paired with a wonderful barley and green tea.
~~~~Hikari~~~~
After we got finished with the garden, we went back to our rooms to get ready for today's classes. I followed Soma and Megumi to a board in the middle of the quad, it was covered with all sorts of flyers advertising all kinds of research societies.
I thought that it would be fun to join a society, just to gain some more experience in different cultural cooking styles. I was always open to new styles of cooking.
Soma and I decided to check out the Don Bowl Research Society, the two of us thinking that it would be perfect for more new menu items for the restaurant. The Don Bowl Research Society would focus on recipes that could fit in a bowl, being served in both style and deliciousness.
But, when we got to the club room, we were greeted with a pretty sad sight. A student, maybe a year older than us with a very... interesting hairstyle was sitting in the center of the room. He looked pretty sad and helpless, as if his soul had departed from his body.
"Sorry, but is this the Don Bowl Research Society?" I asked to break the awkward silence. The student looked up and then looked away with a pathetic smile on his face.
"Sorry, but you guys should just beat it." He said, "Bowl Club is on its last days. We're doomed to get shut down."
We just stared for a moment, until Soma broke the silence again.
"Well, we'll introduce ourselves anyway." He said, "My name's Soma Yukihira. That's my sister, Hikari and this is our friend Megumi."
"I'm Kanichi Konishi. Head of the Bowl Club." The student introduced himself.
"So, Kanichi, you doing all right?" I asked, "You seem a little down in the dumps."
He cried just a little bit, "Feel free to laugh. I couldn't even protect Bowl Club."
I looked down and saw a bunch of recipes scattered all over the floor. Megumi and I picked up a couple of the papers.
"This looks like menus that the members of Bowl came up with." Megumi said and handed the paper to my brother.
"Wow, they have high-end times and off the wall stuff." Soma said the two of us amazed by what these recipes had.
"I have to say, this is pretty cool." I said, "Almost each recipe has a unique spin to it. Why the heck would anyone want to shut down such a promising club like this?"
"You mean..." Kanichi jumped from his seat, "You actually get it." He looked up at us with tears in his eyes, "The beauty of a rice bowl is that they're fast, tasty, and cheap! They're pure manliness encapsulated in a single bowl! It's manly food for men who rage war! And as a man with manly cravings.... I won't rest until I've thoroughly master every single recipe there is!"
"He's a little odd, isn't he?" Megumi whispered to us.
"Yeah, a little too intense for me." Soma answered.
"I don't know, I kinda like him." I added.
Kanichi finished with his rant, but then slumped back into his chair of depression.
"My poor Bowl Club.... If it wasn't for Erina Nakiri..."
"Erina?" We all repeated.
Kanichi nodded, "Yeah, that's how things are run around here. First off, she suggest that the Council cut the budget or take space from groups she doesn't like, then she'll force the motion through. She grinds people down till they have one option left: A Food War."
Our eyes widened again. I really wanted to battle this God Tongue Princess even more now.
"And in exchange for accepting a Food War challenge, she makes a bunch of outrageous demands, till in the end she gets exactly what she wants. IT's how she keeps gaining more and more power. As soon as the other members of Bowl Club found out we were going up against Erina Nakiri, they... They all frigging' quit."
"Okay, so you're gonna have to face Erina, right?" Soma asked.
Kanichi was about to answer my brother, when the club room door slammed open. We turned around and saw a team of construction workers walking into the room and looking around.
"Hey!" Kanichi shouted at the workers, to which they ignored them and continued to examine the room.
"You're absolutely right, Miss Mito." One of the workers said as they turned back to the door, "It's going to be faster to tear everything down than to remodel it."
"Oh, then go ahead." A girl's voice said from the doorway.
We turned back to the door and saw another student walking into the room.
I couldn't deny, she was a very beautiful girl, but she sure loved to show off her.... assets. She had short cut bright blonde hair, a pair of tall brown boots, her uniform shirt tied up high to further show off her toned flat stomach. Her tied was tied around her left thigh and on her right leg was a meat cleaver strapped tightly.
I caught a whiff of her scent just by chance. She smelled sweet, but it wasn't a perfume. More like, the sweet smell of a high grade meat product.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, Mito?!" Kanichi shouted.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She said, slamming her foot against the wall near Kanichi, "I'm just doing a preliminary inspection. You already know how this is going to play out. It's just like Miss Erina said. No matter how you dress it up, a rice bowl is a second rate dish, just low-brow cooking. You're not needed here at Totsuki. Got it?"
I tuned out her furious and ridiculous rant, thinking of all sorts of ways I could take her down, both physically and through cooking.
Just then, I was thrown out of my thoughts when I heard a terrified scream. I looked up and saw that Mito was holding up her meat cleaver and Kanichi's hair was sliced right in half, the cut off half lying abandoned on the floor. I was weirded our by the fact that the hair kept its shape, but I shook that out of my head.
"My name's not Nikumi. Don't call me that ever again." Mito said.
"Don't tell me that's who he'll be facing in the Food War." Megumi said in stunned shock.
"Sure looks like it." Soma said.
"Who the heck is this chick?" I asked.
"Her name is Ikumi Mito." Megumi said, "And she's been called the Meat Master. She's made top ranks since middle school and she's so good, especially with meat, that she's gotten nothing but As. Her intimate knowledge of meat is top class here at the academy.
Ikumi Mito waved the cleaver in front of Kanichi, "No matter what dish you think you can prattle together, it'll be no match for my quality meat."
I scoffed and chuckled at her words, thinking that it was just too funny. Ikumi just looked at me like I was a crazy person.
"And what's so funny?" Ikumi asked while pointing her cleaver at me, "You got something to say?"
"Sorry for laughing, I just finally got the joke." I said.
"What joke?"
"You." I answered, "The fact that you keep prattling on about how a bowl is nothing but a second rate dish and that it couldn't be considered anything good. And yet so many people still continue to eat bowl based dishes all around the world, including Japan. Honestly, you gotta come up with some new material, what you've got now is just a little bit sad."
"And being happy about how much your ingredients costs, is a disgrace in my opinion." Soma added.
I turned to Kanichi, "Say, Kanichi, about this Food War... You think that maybe me or my brother could take your place in it? That sound all right to you, Soma?"
"Sure, I got no problem with it." Soma answered.
"Why would you even bother to interfere if you two aren't even members?" Ikumi asked.
I turned back to Ikumi and glared at her harshly, "Because if there's one thing that I just can't stand it's arrogant people like you who think that they're so much better than others just because of the dollars signs to their name."
She growled at me and lowered her cleaver, stepping just a little closer to me and my brother.
"I know you two. You guys are the idiot transfer students from the entrance ceremony. I've been wanting to have a few words with you, especially this little spitfire here. You two must be very confident in your skills if you're suddenly going to take on somebody else's fight for them. Or you both are pretty stupid."
I laughed, "I wouldn't really call that stupidity. I'd call it an immense courage to take on a battle against a egotistical meat freak who walks around with a cleaver on her thigh and threatens those who hardly have a shot at winning such an intense battle."
"You've got some nerve talking to me like that." Ikumi growled at me.
"Oh, you'd better believe that I have some serious nerves, and it takes a lot for a person to get on them. So how about you stop threatening students, put away your little cleaver and buckle up, because when this Food War comes around your senses are gonna be so rattled that your head will be spinning for weeks. So, you wanna keep prattling on, or are we gonna figure out the costs of this Food War?"
Everyone was stunned by what I said, and from what I've heard, no one dared to talk to someone like Ikumi because of them being so intimidated by her and her skills.
But I wasn't scared. Ikumi Mito wasn't just a student who wanted to take her skills to a higher level, she was another stepping stone for me to become the best along with my brother.
Ikumi smirked and stood tall, "My, my, what a mouth you got. You might actually be a good warm up for me. Fine then, I accept your Food War challenge. I'll even give you a little bit of a boost and let your brother compete with you. If you lose, both of you will leave Totsuki Academy for good."
"Seems fair since you've giving me a leg up, so I'll return the favor and agree with the main ingredient being meat. But if you somehow don't got what it takes and lose the Food War, then you'll have to stop going after Bowl Club, the Council of Ten will have to grant more funding for it, and the cherry on top... you'll have to join the club. Does that sound like a deal, Nikumi?"
She growled at me because I used her nickname, but she pulled back her anger and nodded.
"That sounds fine. We'll have the Food War in three days. Be prepared to fail, Yukihira twins."
She said that and walked away with the construction workers.
"Hikari, Soma are you both insane?" Kanichi shouted and shook in fear, "Why did you do that?"
"My sister was right about what she said." Soma said, "Thinking that expensive meat is everything is an insult to mom-and-pop diners that neither of us can ignore."
"That's right. And besides, it would be a shame to see a club like this go down without a fight." I added.
"You're the coolest! Both of you!" Kanichi cried to us.
"But Hikari, Soma, do you have any idea of what to make to win the battle?" Megumi asked us.
Soma and I chuckled as we both sat down in a couple of chairs in the room. I mulled over what kind of things that I could help Soma make. I got a few bits and pieces, and when I looked over at my brother, I could see that he had the rest of the pieces of the puzzle.
"Well sis, what do you think?" Soma asked.
I hummed, "Well, she had a subtle sweet scent to her, so she has to work with a specific kind of meat. From the look of her meat cleaver, it has to be beef, and a pretty high quality type of beef. Her arms has some muscle, too, so she's pretty strong, strong enough to carry large amounts of meat."
"Seriously, you could figure all of that out just from looking at Ikumi?" Kanichi asked surprised by my description ofIkumi.
"My sister has some seriously strong senses. From her sense of sight, hearing, taste, feel, and even her sense of touch are pretty strong. That's how she got the name Heaven's Senses back home. So, sis, what else you got on the Meat Master?"
"Well, that grade of meat will definitely be something. Know anything about her preference when it comes to graded beef, Kanichi?"
Kanichi nodded, "Yeah, she definitely uses A5 beef every time."
"A5?" Soma questioned.
"Yeah, it's a way to measure the quality of meat." Kanichi said, walking to the whiteboard, writing down letters from A to C and numbers from 1 to 5, "When the cow is broken down, the meat is ranked on a fat to meat ratio. There are three rankings from A to C, marbling, firmness and texture! All of these determine a cut of beef's marbling standard. These are ranked from 1 to 5. Any meat that is on the top of these two standards is classed as A5. I once ate one of Ikumi's steaks at an academy function and it just melted in your mouth. It was almost as if you could drink it."
"Drink it?!" Soma exclaimed.
"Yes, as soon as I took a bite out of it, the flavors took on a life of its own. It slid softly down my throat. Something like this could only be ordered at the finest restaurants and the cash would be flying out of your wallet. Also, this is extremely important, the ingredients must be prepared by the chef. After all, chefs must be skilled in food prep, too. The entire Mito family turned their wholesale meat business into a massive company, and have cornered the market on meat production. They have money! They have facilities! They have-"
"Everything but a good sense of cooking spirit, really. But I think I can help with that." I said.
"Help?" Soma asked.
"Yep." I put my hand on my brother's shoulder, "It's about time you show off your skills. I'll be your sous chef, if that's all right with you, got it big brother?"
Soma smiled and put his hand over mine,"All right then. Promise to hold nothing back when judging, okay?"
"Wouldn't want it any other way." I smiled.
Soma nodded, "Kanichi, you said that Ikumi mostly uses A5 meat, right?"
"Yeah, that's right." Kanichi answered.
"Okay, so what are you two planning?" Megumi asked.
Soma and I stood up from our seats and tied our headbands in place.
"We plan to win, that's what." My brother and I said, preparing for our first Food War. A war we were going to win.