A really special thanks to ILoveMyths2003 for voting and commenting on the previous chapters!
***
Before they all knew it, summer break was over, and they all were back at Tootsuki once again.
Students who were chosen for the preliminaries were making their way to the stadium. Some were nervous, some were excited, but each and every one of them was determined to pass the preliminaries and make it to the real competition.
Ayano enters the large stadium, looking around in awe. The place was huge, much more than the normal Shokugeki stadium she has seen before. Just by seeing the place had made a bubbling feeling arise in her stomach, excitement.
When the brown haired female spots her childhood friend, she approaches the female, and offers a meek smile to her, "Hey, Ikumi. How was your break?" Ayano casually starts a conversation, mentally patting herself on the back for having confidence.
".. I-It went well, I guess," with a tint of pink dusting her cheeks, Ikumi replies, averting her eyes for a second. "But how was your break?" She then returns the question, "I heard you were at Italy for two weeks."
Confirming with a nod, the brunette answers, "Yeah. I even met two students here in Tootsuki while I was there," she commented in the end, leaving out the name of the two students who she had grown quite close to.
"Really?" Ikumi was then quite envious, hearing that her childhood friend had made even more friends. "Were they nice to you--"
"Oh, it's Nikumi! And Hirashima as well!"
Hearing her last name coming from him sent shivers down Ayano's spine, and she clears her throat to compose herself.
"H-Hey.." The blush was once again visible on her face, and Ikumi shyly waves.
Ayano, on the other hand, just nods in acknowledgement, making Souma frown for a fraction of a second.
Changing the subject, Souma grins, "Nikumi, you and I are on the same block, right? Let's go through this together."
"To-Together?!?" Surprised by his choice of words, Ikumi blushing bright red. "Idiot, we're enemies!" She protests, "S-So I'm not going to lose to you this time!" She yells as she runs off, leaving Ayano with the other Polar star members.
"Hirashima-chi!!" Yuuki, excited and very happy, hugs Ayano tightly, "It's been awhile, I missed seeing your face!"
"Me, too, Yoshino," Ayano agrees, having no choice since Yuuki was clinging onto her for dear life.
"Ayano-chan, how was your break?" Megumi, looking refreshed, asked her dorm mate, smiling like usual.
"I heard you went to Italy! Did you bring any souvenirs?!" Yuuki then asks loudly, detaching herself from Ayano.
"Actually, I did," said Ayano, "But my things are currently at the dorm, so you'll have to wait until then."
"You're so thoughtful, Hirashima-chi!" Yuuki then pretends to cry, but she was genuinely happy.
"For everyone? Thanks a lot, Hirashima," eyes slightly wide, Sakaki thanks her friend, smiling.
"I brought one for everyone in the dorm, it's my thanks for being my friends ever since I got here," with honesty, Ayano uttered, a grin slowly appearing on her face.
"Everyone?" Sakaki then quirks a brow, folding her arms under her chest as a knowing smirk displayed on her face.
".. I couldn't leave one out, it would make them feel sad," countered Ayano, losing her grin immediately.
"Say what you want," Sakaki then shrugs her shoulders, her eyes darting towards a certain redhead that was close by.
"Yukihira!!!"
When his name was called by a loud voice, Ayano turns around, only to see the two males that she had befriended over the summer.
Takumi blabbers on about that Souma was his only rival, swearing that both of them would have a cook off one day.
"Wait, wait, who's the guy beside you?" Stopping him from continuing any further, Souma questions, his eyes furrowed cutely.
Exasperated, Takumi then glances at Ayano, seeing that she was near his rival, he then forgot the question that was asked. "Ayano, where have you been?! I've been calling you, asking if--"
"Hold on, you guys know each other?!" Butting in, Yoshino exclaims, a gasp escaping her lips as she says so.
Sighing, Ayano then puts her hand up, signaling Takumi that she'll be the one to explain. "I was with them for two weeks when I was in Italy," she explains briefly, "And to answer Yukihira's question, the guy beside Takumi is Isami, his younger twin brother."
"What?! No way!" In disbelief, Souma exclaims as his eyes widened. He couldn't recognize him, he was totally different from before!
"Isami loses weight because of the summer heat," deadpanned Ayano, heaving another sigh.
"Just because of summer heat?!" Echoed Souma, still not believing what they were saying.
"I'm fine, I'll return back to normal around autumn and winter," reassured the younger twin, smiling gently.
"I know it's hard to take in, but you'll get used to it," said Ayano, not taking to heart their reactions. She was like that, too, when she first found out, but she believed in Takumi immediately, knowing he wasn't one to lie when it comes to his brother. "I was like that, too, trust me. And he's fine anyway, it happens every year."
"E-Every year?!" The Polar Star residents seem to be still in shock, and Takumi grits his teeth when he realized that they have strayed away from the original topic.
"Anyway," clearing his throat to catch Souma's attention, Takumi speaks up, "Now that you know he's Isami, let's start over the conversation--"
The lights were suddenly turned off, and Takumi's eyes widened. Of course, he was surprised, he was in the middle of challenging his rival, and then he gets interrupted!
However, lights above the stage were opened, and was focused on the stage alone. The lights were so bright, Ayano had to squint her eyes for a few seconds to adjust to the brightness.
"Let's just talk about it later, 'kay, Takumi?" Souma casually brushes their conversation off, his attention focused on the person that walked on the stage
"... Y-Yeah."
Ayano's Point of View
After Senzaemon-sensei's speech about us being the golden generation or whatsoever, it was also announced that the students will have to separate and go to their own blocks, and start cooking around eleven o'clock.
I made the scarf around me a bit tighter, heaving a heavy sigh. I'm nervous, of course I am, there's only suppose to be eight people who can participate in the main tournament, I can't slack off now!
All the things I've learned for the past months I've been here in Tootsuki, and the last month where I was in Italy, I'll place it all in my dish; to prove my worth!
"I'm not going to lose to you guys.." I muttered to myself, smiling as I took my ingredients to my station.
The dish that I'll be making, is a dish I've made on my own. I'm sure it has a long way to go, but I'm sure that this dish I've made will get me points to be in the main tournament.
"Oh? You seem quite happy, Ayano-chan."
Chuckling, I place the box down on my counter, and turned around to face the person who talked to me. "Well, I've learned other things in Italy other than pastas, you know, Isami?" I replied, suddenly feeling pride welling up inside me.
"Don't forget about our bet, then," he also chuckles to himself, "Best of luck to you and to nii-chan, whoever wins."
Nodding my head, I just agree, knowing that we both still have other things to do other than chatter. When Isami walks away, I touched a few strands of my bangs, then moved them aside.
I don't have time to think about other matters if I want to concentrate on making my dish!
Time passes by, and it was already eleven o'clock. We were told to start cooking, and from my station that was at the left corner farthest to the judges, I eyed the judges to try and see how they were like.
The one at the middle was Sendawara Orie, she was called one of the curry queens, her sister being the other queen. I forgot who the rest are, but the one on Sendawara-san's left, was a rather stout man, and on the right was a famous essayist.
After a few more seconds of inspecting them, I go and start making my dish. My dish was inspired by a simple Japanese burger, which consists of rice buns, the patty and other toppings; though my dish is quite similar to that, because I'll have rice buns as well, and the patty of the so called burger will be the curry meat.
(A/N: I'm just basically making this up soooo)
Anyway, we only had two hours to finish our dish, and I'm glad mine needed an hour and a few more minutes to be finished. I'll have to serve mine as soon as possible as well, because it's best to eat it hot or warm, than cold.
"Oi, oi, look now at Hirashima Ayano. What do you think she's making?"
"Whoa, I don't know. But I think she wants to be disqualified on purpose. The theme is curry, right?!"
"That doesn't look like a curry at all!"
Seriously, I just want to yell at their faces to shut the hell up. Who do they think they are?!
Ugh, most of the students here in Tootsuki piss me off because of their know it all attitude! Just because they've been here since they were young, doesn't make them have a higher rank than me!
Though I'm glad that they shut up, because I swore I couldn't control myself. I went back to finishing my dish, just adding the other toppings and some dried spices to go along with them.
"Now, it's time to judge! Whoever wants to serve their dish first, please go ahead!" Exclaimed Kawashima Urara, after several minutes of silence.
And so, there it started, one by one the dishes didn't pass even though they were good enough to pass.
However, I wanted to break that streak. I want to change that. Feeling confident all of a sudden, I walked towards the judges while I carried the tray of my dish. Placing a plate in front of each judge, I stated, "My dish is called a curry burger."
"A-A curry burger?!" Echoed the stout man, scrutinizing my dish. He's confused, I'm not even going to explain any further, I'll let my curry do the talking for me.
"This dish looks quite promising. But how does it exactly taste?" Then questioned the essayist, grabbing the burger and taking a huge bite of it.
".... Oh! This really tastes like curry!"
".. It may not be that visible, but there is quite a lot of roux! Their just hidden between all these vegetable and meat!"
A few more minutes of talking later, they give me their scores.
17
19
18
18
18
"There you have it! Hirashima Ayano, the current first place with ninety points!"
I bowed my head to the judges, and got the plates from them, and went back to my station to place them back. When I passed by the Aldini brothers, I send them a grin, "Do your best, you two!"