~~~~~Hikari~~~~~
I didn't pay much attention to Mimasaka, since all he could do was copy my dish. Little did he know, however, that I had an ace up my sleeve. Something that would send each judge on a rollercoaster of chaos with how delicious my stew would be. Nevertheless, I kept an ear and an eye out as he finished his dish and walked up to the stage.
"We will now begin the taste testing with Subaru Mimasaka's beef stew." Dojima said as he presented his dish.
"Go ahead." He said, "Time to eat up."
The pink haired judge, Sonoko Kikuchi, smiled at the presentation, since the beef was perfectly arranged to show off every strip of meat there was in the stew.
"So for your garnish, you chose to use smoked bacon, mushrooms, and onion glace." She said, "Incidentely, glace mans frozen in French, did you know that already? Anyway, I think their glistening sheen gives your dish a delightful little--"
She was cut off when judge Tsunozaki kicked her chair to make the woman be quiet.
"Shut up and eat already will you?!" She shouted and so the tasting began. They all took a nervous bite of the dish, and from the satisfied looks on their faces, I could tell that my opinions about the dish were right.
The ox tail is a good piece of the dish, since it would melt on the tongue and give the stew more flavor when combined with the subtle sweetness of the white miso. Not to mention that the scent of the mestique from the bacon gives a rounding punch to the throat.
"I feel like my tongue is going to melt right off my body."
"This is unbelievable!"
Mimasaka looked over at me with a smirk, thinking that he had already beaten me.
"I read all your moves, even being impromptu, that's the reason for this added bacon." He gloated, "I let it age in my special brine for the last five days. Then, to add insult to injury, I left it out in the wind, letting it dry for a full day before smoking it for five full hours. That's how I was able to make it so flavorful, because I spent all that time on it."
"That's true enough." Dojima said with a mouth full of stew, "Rather than muddling the impact of the beef, the umami of this slow prepared pork takes to a whole other dimension. The time and effort this took to prepare is palpable. It has a refined power, the exact opposite of impromptu cooking."
"It's just like heaven! So soft, so tender." Chef Inui grinned.
"This flavor goes way beyond just a simple copy." Chef Mizuhara added.
"This is like shooting sparks as meat battles meat, wrestling against each other in the ring. It's a deadlock of deliciousness, rippling through a body of blossoming doom. The beef and pork combine in a mouth-watering explosion!" Dojima said and the crowd cheered loudly, shouting their praise for the judges' opinions on the stew.
Mimasaka laughed like a crazed madman, thinking that he had this round in the palm of his hands, but I wasn't gonna let some second-hand dish stealing chef take my or my brother's knives from me. I glanced up at the stands, seeing Takumi and Isami standing by the entrance. Takumi looked like all hope was lost, that this round was over and done with, but this was far from over. Not until all their senses were rattled beyond recognition.
"Looks like you had the wrong idea there, Hikari." Mimasaka said, "You trusted in blind inspiration to make a dish right on the spot. Mark my words, girl, it's nothing more than your brain being at a standstill. When it comes to cooking, the devil is always in the details. Whoever preps the most will always win the most. You can come with as many tricks as you want to, Hikari, but it's always pointless. Pointless! Utterly pointless! You should burn this day into memory, for it will be the last dish you ever serve in your life, Hikari Yukihira."
I stood there taking his verbal attack, but got bored and yawned loudly. I didn't have to yawn so loud, but I thought it was appropriate to show how much he didn't faze me. After all, the best way to kill the snake, is to cut off the head.
I ended my yawn with a chuckle and a determination filled gaze in my eyes.
"The sign of a weak chef is when they talk way too much for my liking." I said and he looked stunned, "You stand there talking about how I should burn this into my memory, how you stole my idea and made it your own by changing up a few things, while I was relying on my wits to get me through this challenge. Well guess what, Mimasaka, the only one relying on something is you. But then again, I guess I was relying on your stupidity to get through this as well."
"What?" He questioned me.
"I thought about you all week, piecing together where you were hiding and each move you made. Remember, I'm the girl with the Heaven's Senses. You can hide from sight, but you can't hide your presence from me."
I turned back to my dish and prepared to serve it, gliding past Mimasaka as I approached the judges' tasting table.
"Well then, why don't you let your senses be rattled!" I announced and set my dish on the table, "Order up! Yukihira style beef stew: Fall Selection special!"
When the judges looked down at my beef stew, they were both stunned and confused. On the surface, it looked like there just different cuts of beef thrown in to the bowl without any thought, but this appearance went far deeper than initially thought in the judges' heads.
"You're not screwing around with us are you?" Chef Tsunozaki said, "I've never seen any beef stew like this before."
"What are you talking about? Haven't you seen a bowl of beef stew before?" I asked, "After all, they're all considered to be a garnish."
"What's that?"
"Did she say that they're all garnishes?"
"The charcoal grill gives it a rich aroma."
"It looks like it's simmered to absolute perfection."
My stew may have looked like a jumbled up mess, but there is beauty underneath a mess if you know how to sort through it.
"So the stew itself is basically the same as the previously presented dish." Mizuhara said.
"As for the garnish..." Tsunozaki took a bite.... and her mind went wild. Bite after bite she looked like she was about toburst from the taste of my dish.
"The cheek meat is so tender and juicy that it practically melts when you chew it!" Tsunozaki exclaimed.
"The texture of the tongue and honeycomb is also a fest of deliciousness." Kikuchi could barely hold in her expression.
"The grilled skirt steak was sliced thick, the amount of juices flowing out of it is entirely new." Mizuhara commented.
"When paired with the stew it brings forth a torrent of splendid loveliness!" Inui said.
"Well, it looks like it's thrown in carelessly at first, but each cut was prepared perfectly. An expertly built thrill ride of flavor. Such a manajorie of creating perfect balance."
Mimasaka looked like he was about to explode out of mind-blowing shock.
"But how is this possible?" He asked himself, "How could she make this on the fly?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I would say that it was all thanks to you that I was able to make this dish perfect." I said and stood up tall, "I thought like you did, wanting to use a powerful garnish to increase the depth of flavor in the dish. But, that wouldn't work in my favor. It's not my style. So I decided to combine various flavors and seasonings into a single dish."
"To think that you were able to make such layers of flavoring in a single bowl of beef stew." Kikuchi said.
"Actually, I just used the same thinking for a popular dish my brother and I liked as a model for this."
"A popular dish?" Tsunozaki repeated.
"Yep, this morning it just jumped right into my head: The Chikuzenni dish. Normally thought of as just a simple simmered stew, but it also has a certain kick to it when made by a pro. Right Chef Inui?"
"That's right." She agreed, "Simmer type according to each type of vegetable, so that the color and flavor of each ingredient is met, allowing for everything to shine through."
"Then when it's all done, each is arranged in a single dish, taking care to reach optimal balance for each of the ingredients. The same concept was used here in my beef stew." I finished explaining.
"Damn you to hell, Hikari." Mimasaka shouted at me, "You fooled me all along, you weren't winging it at all!"
"When had I ever said that I would be winging my dish in this battle?" I asked, "This entire time, while you were trying to be the shadow, I was the light keeping you away. I was putting together every experience, every bit of knowledge and skills that I've obtained from starting at this school into this very dish." I smirked at him, walking up to him and gazing at him with my piercing gold eyes.
Immediately I could see his will crawling away behind his fear.
"Seeing as how you go so far to copy someone's dish and then take only one step to make it different and beat them, I figured that this would be something that you could never copy. So good luck."
I turned back when I heard the crowds gasping, and standing in front of the table were the judges, all holding hands as if they had just gotten back from a fun trip.
Tsunozaki couldn't help but blush and tear her hands away, but I smiled knowing that my dish was prepared well enough to get them to stand and smile like they did. I turned back to Mimasaka, who continued to glare at me, but I didn't care. I did my best and with the announcement of the judgement from the Emcee, I waited for the results.
"For the first round of the Semi-finals, also doubling as a Food War, Judges please grab your brushes and cast your votes now!"
Each of the judges took a brush, dipped it in ink and wrote down one name. They finished their vote right away, and on each sheet of paper was my name! I had won the Semi-final round and the Food War!
"It's unanimous! Hikari Yukihira has won over Subaru Mimasaka! She now moves on to the finals!"
I smiled brightly and tore off my headband, letting my red hair flow freely down my back.
"You're welcome!" I shouted and the crowds cheered even louder with my victory. I could even hear Soma chanting my name in the stands.
"There's no way." Mimasaka said, "there's no way you could win against my perfect freakin' copy!"
I grabbed an extra bowl of my beef stew and handed it to him, "How about instead of mouthing off, why don't you take a bowl and eat up?"
Mimasaka was hesitant at first, but he eventually took the bowl and ate. His body relaxed and he fell to this knees with the dish in hand. He knew he was defeated, and now for my prize in the Food War.
A large steel container was rolled into the arena with the manager of the Food War Committee right beside it.
"With the conclusion of this Food War, Subaru Mimasaka has lost all right to the claim of all these utensils. All are present." I marveled at the amount of cooking utensils hung in the container and sealed in their individual boxes.
"Hikari Yukihira, stated in full, all of these utensils will be returned to their rightful owners. Is that correct?"
"Sounds good to me!"
Immediately, every student that lost against Mimasaka came rushing to the stage and taking their individual cooking utensils, which were ready to be used once again. I watched satisfied as they were all returned to their rightful owners.
"Um, excuse me, Hikari?" Someone called out my name, I turned and saw a girl around my age holding one of the knife cases with tears in her eyes.
"Um, thank you for this. This knife was given to me as a memento when my mother passed away. It means everything to me. Thank you very much. I'm forever in your debt."
The girl bowed to me, then scoffed at Mimasaka.
"I guess the time has come." He said, "I'll be leaving Totsuki Academy, and I promise not to cook anymore. I acted shamefully and bore the embarrassment. There's nothing left for me to be proud of any--"
I cut him off with a good smack on the head, making sure that he went down , "Don't be an idiot! If you quit then what was the point in me accepting this Food War in the first place?"
I sighed and turned around towards the entrance of the arena, seeing Takumi and Isami standing near the edge of the stage with one case left to take.
"Hey Takumi, you gonna get it or not?" I asked.
Takumi looked at me, then at Mimasaka, walking over to the defeated chef.
"Subaru Mimasaka, I lost my match to you, completely." He said and got up and close to Mimasaka, "But next time I won't lose. If you move one step forward, I'll move two. No, I'll move ten or even a hundred! Things do not end like this, got it?!"
Takumi walked up to the case holding his Mezzaluna, took it, then held it out for me to take.
"My Mezzaluna is yours to keep for the moment. But one day I'll get it back, only after I beat you in a Food War. Hold onto it until then." Then he walked away after I took the case, but I could have sworn that there was a small pink tint on his cheeks. And even I could feel my ears begin to burn a little.
I smiled at his ridiculous actions, "See how someone who's lost a bad battle came come right back up from the ground, Mimasaka." I knelt down in front of him, "Listen closely, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. No matter who much you try to beat someone down, try to repress a feeling or memory that is so unbearably painful you can't even imagine the agony, you can't give up without a fight. That's the mark of a true chef. So don't you ever forget that."
I stood up and walked away with the Mezzaluna in hand, only to be met with my brother wrapping his arms tightly around me.
"I'm so proud of you, sis!" He shouted and hugged me tighter, "You did an amazing job out there! I knew you could beat that copycat chef."
I laughed as he set me down on my feet and we walked back to the dorm. With the setting sun in the distance, I knew that this day was a good one.