Ayano watched Erina intently, the young examiner had just swallowed a spoonful of Apricot Rice and was in deep though. Finally, after a few more minutes that felt like eternity, Erina clears her throat, stating, "Hirashima-san. Your dish... Is disgusting!"
"Oh shit. I've done it now. Mom and Dad, I'm so sorry that I've only made it this far.."
Ayano was so shocked about the answer that Erina had just given her. "Why?" She demands, looking at Erina's unique colored orbs in anticipation.
"I did say that the main ingredient is egg, correct? Your dish's main ingredient was Apricot. And on top of that, it feels like sitting on a dirty, sticky mud puddle in the storm!" Erina points a finger at Ayano, "You've failed the exam, Hirashima-san."
Nodding her head, Ayano then smiled at Erina, "Thanks for correcting my mistake, Nakiri-san. I'll be sure to make use of it in the future!" She bowed in her presence.
Then their conversation was interrupted by footsteps from the other chef.
"The exam ends here," Erina flips her long blonde hair, turning around when she took one single glance at the dish made by the boy Ayano has yet to know.
"This isn't even worth considering," the blonde was about to walk away, but the boy was persistent. Ayano just watched the scene in front of her behold; from when the boy, Yukihira, served his dish, then added the toppings that made transformed the dish into something completely new. And when he was rejected by the examiner.
After his loss, both him and Ayano exited the room without a word with each other, it's not like they know each other. "Now that I think about it, Maeda was gone when I passed my dish. Maybe she ditched the exam when she realized something. Oh well, we weren't really friends, so she probably didn't want to be with me anymore.."
"Hitoshima, was it?" Yukihira started, keeping his hands in his pocket, continuing to walk without sparing a look at Ayano.
"Not quite, but close. And your name is Yukihira, right?" Ayano inquires, her hands were locked behind her and she was inspecting the place she was in, noting small things here and there so that she would make good use of it next time.
Yukihira chuckles, "You've got my last name right. I'm Yukihira Souma," he redressed, then finally eyed Ayano's features.
And just like that, Ayano returned the look he gave. Everything was like in slow motion in movies Ayano sometimes watched. It's their first time actually looking at each other face to face; since earlier they were too busy with the exam. But now, it was like the world didn't matter when they looked into the eyes of the one in front of them.
The atmosphere they had was broken because they heard a desperate voice a few feet away from them. "Hello! Hello, can you hear me?! Mama!~ That Nakiri Erina was the examiner!" Souma and Ayano faced forward, looking at a boy. He was on his phone, crying his eyes out while snot was falling form his nose, "My luck was too bad! It was impossible! I'm going home now!"
And as if noticing their presence, he was shocked to see Souma standing behind him. "Yo-- You are... It can't be.... You passed Nakiri Erina's--"
"Ah, it seems it was no good.." Souma scratched the back of his neck, reminiscing the time when Erina denied his dish not too long ago.
After that they, Ayano and Souma, resumed walking until they reached the gates of the school.
"This is where we part, Yukihira. Maybe we'll meet again in the future," Ayano shows a weak smile to Souma.
Souma coughs to get her attention. "I won't really know if I don't know your name, right?"
Suddenly remembering that she didn't give her name, she starts to get flustered. "U-U-Um.. I-I'm so, so sorry! I just-- I completely forgot because I was listening to the other guy, and... and..!"
Souma hysterically laughs, clutching at his stomach as he bends a little, "..... No. It's fine. Maybe I should call you something else since I don't know your name."
After Ayano takes a few deep breaths, she was calm again. "I'm Hirashima Ayano. I hope I'll see you in the future," Ayano shows a big, genuine smile this time. And they parted ways with one of Souma's silly remarks.
Four Days Later
It took Ayano three hours to find the dorm she was going to be in. Her mother had also warned her that she might be surprised to what would be shown to her when she got there, so she should be prepared. A butler had brought Ayano's belongings and sped off in a hurry, probably running a few errands for her parents.
"This place is really huge," Ayano simply stated, evaluating the large, dirty looking dorm. It had become sort of dark, which meant that it was already or almost evening.
Ayano then walks to the front door, knocking on it for three times. Moments passed by, and no one answered the door. Instead, there was a loud explosion. Quickly, Ayano opens the door and there was smoke surrounding one particular room.
"Oi, room 208!! You went and modified the lounge into a smoking room again! Shall I make you into smoked chips?!?" A voice of a old woman blared throughout the whole dorm, making Ayano cringed at the loudness, but she also heard muffled murmur as a reply.
Then, loud, very loud footsteps came next.
"Usako, Kamosuke, Shikanoshin! Don't leave your cages!" Ayano saw a girl that looked like her age, chasing a herd of animals while screaming their names.
"Don't keep gibier in your room, room 116!! If you do it again, I'll skin you alive!" The same voice from earlier scolds, the voice was a bit hoarse than before.
Ayano waited for what was coming, and nothing, fortunately, happened. "Phew. This place looks like it would collapse any time now," Ayano tells herself, checking the place where she stood, wondering if it was always like this; everyday.
"Ah. You must be a transfer student who wishes to enter the dorm. If I'm not mistaken, Hirashima Ayano?"
Ayano turns to her right and see's a old looking woman with gray colored hair combed backwards. Ayano gulps, then nods at her, pushing herself to be as respectful as possible.
"I'm Daimidou Fumio, the caretaker of the dorm. You've prepared your ingredients, I suppose, for the skill test?" Fumio questions, crossing her arms and looking up towards Ayano.
"It's nice to meet you, Daimidou-san. And yes, I've got the food that I need. Please lead me to the kitchen," Ayano bows deeply towards Fumio.
Fumio slightly smiles, "Very well. And just refer to me with my first name," she tells her, leading the young girl to the kitchen.
"You've got a nice kitchen here, Fumio-san," Ayano comments nicely, walking aimlessly to check on a few utensils.
Without sparing any other minute, Ayano drops her bags on the floor and took the ingredients she needed for the simple dish she was going to make. "Fumio-san, mind waiting for awhile? This'll take two hours, tops," Ayano tightly wrapped the scarf in her neck again, and dumped the food on the counter.
Taking a deep breath, Ayano gets to work without a moment of hesitation in her movements.
Ayano firstly removes the lid of a container that had Kabocha squash in it, it was already peeled and sliced into cubes. Going for the microwave, Ayano placed it in there; while waiting for it to be softened, Ayano gets a pan and heats oil in it and cooked ground beef until it was color brown.
When it turned brown, Ayano removed some oil, and sautés sliced onion until it was also cooked. Afterwards, she got the Kabocha squash and the meat mixture, placing salt, pepper and nutmeg and lets it cool for awhile.
When it was cooled down, Ayano shaped it into cute circles while humming a tune. Then she placed it inside the refrigerator.
Ayano preps the flour, eggs and bread crumbs; she used it to coat the circle shaped Kabocha squash and deep fried it until it was golden brown. Lastly, serving it in a flat plate towards the caretaker of the dorm, "Here you go, Fumio-san. I just hoped I didn't take long."
Hesitantly, Fumio stabs her fork into the golden brown colored food, and takes a bite into it. "T-This is...!"
"Kabocha Korokke. Is that what you were going to say?" Ayano interrupts her, folding her arms and a glint shined in her eyes. All she wanted for now was approval because of the incident a few days ago with Erina. "Here, try it with this," Ayano shoved a box in front of the old woman, "It's rice. Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be okay to mix it with some Apricot Rice."
Ayano had actually remade the Apricot Rice, it was improved because of what the examiner said a few days ago. Fumio complied, taking a spoonful of rice and biting into the Korokke again.
...
...
Minutes passed by and Ayano patiently waited for Fumio's answer.
Clearing her throat, Fumio shows a meek smile, "Alright then! I accept your admission into the dorm! Your room is 305!"
"Heh, thanks Fumio-san!" Ayano cheekily smiles, happy that her cooking was finally accepted. Ayano then picked up her things, and went towards her room.
Once she got inside, she was greeted by a single bed with plain sheets. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except the fact that it was so plain and a bit too boring for Ayano's taste.
"I'll fix this room into shape."
Nighttime came by faster that Ayano expected, and she just finished a warm, relaxing bath. Laying on her bed, Ayano looks into the ceiling, like she was waiting for something to happen.
CLUNK
"Hi there, transfer student-chan! Come, we're having a welcome party for you!"
"HOLY SHIT!!" Ayano was quick to cover her mouth when the words slipped. How the hell did that guy do that?! And why the hell would he do that? Everything is happening so fast, Ayano isn't sure if she's catching up.
A few persuasion and apologizing later, Ayano was out of her comfy bed and to a room that belonged to a guy with glasses.
"I told you, I'm busy studying for exams! If you want to party, do it in another room!! Why does it have to be here anyway?!?" The owner of room 205 yells loudly, intimidating Ayano a whole lot. She suddenly had second thoughts, what if he kicks her out?! Oh no, that wouldn't be so good.
"It can't be helped. Marui's room is the biggest of all.." A girl with amber colored hair chirps happily, checking her nails as she said so. "Oh, and it's clean when we come here," she adds, irritating the owner of the room more.
Feeling a bit out of place, Ayano stays in the corner of the room she was in, tightly hugging herself. The cardigan she randomly wore gave her a sense of comfort, at least no one conversed with her.
The guy who invited Ayano tells a speech about youth, and his dream for the dorm. Then he walks straight towards Ayano, "So, I'm a second year, Isshiki. Call me Isshiki-senpai! Everyone here is a first year like you," he shakes hands with Ayano, and the girl gulps.
"My name is Hirashima Ayano and---"
"Welcome to the Polar Star Dorm," Isshiki cuts Ayano's sentence. There was suddenly a welcoming atmosphere around the room, and it made Ayano somehow comfortable.
For the rest of the night, Ayano conversed with all of the students inside the dorm. She didn't expect this to happen, never. She thought it would be some sort of place where a short tempered, ugly old hag would be the caretaker and that the people staying are like zombies and suffer; but she was dead wrong.
And since this happened, she's looking forward to what may come in her way.
***
I'd like to thank not only to God but to J--
Ahem! Sorry... To CoFFeeBeaN28 for voting and commenting on the first chapter c:
Again, I hope you readers like the book so far! Please do tell me your thoughts in the comments!
Please wait until the next chapter!