3rd person's pov
"I finally have a chance to stomp you flat, Yukihira Soma!" Takumi, or as they know him as blond guy, said. "Well, goood for you, congrats. I get that you are trying to pick a fight, but you can get your foot off now." Soma said, the pain finally getting to him. "All right everyone." Hinako said, attracting everyone's attention, including Soma and Takumi, who finally got his foot off Soma's. "I will be sitting right hereso if you have any questions about today's assignment, feel free to ask." Hinako said eating her Kaki No Tane. "Um, Inui sensei? You haven't even told us what the assignment is yet." A student voiced out. "Oh, I haven't? Goodness, I guess I had best explain it, then. My assignment is to use these ingredients here to cook a Japanese main dish. Any dish will be fine." Hinako said which Aika got almost immediately and left, nearly nobody noticing it except Hinako. "Um chef? There isn't anything there." Another student said which made her look back at them. "Yes there is. There are a lot of things! Bountiful nature, a blue river, it's a treasure trove of wonderful ingredients. This building and property have long been privately held by the Totsuki Institute. A fence marks it's boundaries. If you cross that fence, you fail. To pass this assignment, you must find your ingredients inside this area only, prepare them and present them to me in a Japanese dish that meets my approval. Any seasonings, oils and utensils you may need are provided in this room. You may also use any of the fishing rods and hunting equipment located in the shed. You have two hours. Ready, begin!" Hinako said as she claps her hands. 'Huh? What was that?' A student thought. 'She needs to speak louder.' Another student grumbled. It was only after a few moments of silence did the students started to panic. "First, we need to research what fish are in that river!" A female student said. "Sweet fish. Grilled sweet fish would work, wouldn't it?" Her partner said but the female countered back saying that she doesn't know if they are in season right now. "Whatever! We've only got two hours, we got to hurry!" One of them shouted as most of the students rush out the door to the shed for equipment.
"Let's make a contest out of it, Yukihira." Takumi said. "A contest?" Soma asked. "Yes. Let's decide which one of us is better, once and for all." Takumi said walking to Hinako after that. "Inui sensei, I would like to hand over this decision to you. Your impartial judgement can put this matter to a rest and declare for all which one of us made the better dish." Takumi said, seeming to have 'planned' this out. "Hm? Why would I want to do that? It has nothing to do with my assignment so I would rather not, thanks anyways." Hinako said, not having a single interest in this battle. "O-oh, I see..." Takumi said, not expecting it, making the atmosphere pretty awkward till Isami burst out laughing. "So now what? Your antics have really turned this awkward, you know." Soma said while Takumi blushed in embarrassment. "That was so lame, big bro." Isami said, still laughing. "Sh- Shut up! You don't start laughing too!" Takumi said, feeling humiliated. 'Big bro? They are related?' Tadokoro thought, totally shocked. 'They don't look anything alike!' Soma thought as he looked at the both of them. "Anyway, I will never lose to you, Yukihira! Anything you make, I will make it better." Takumi said, pointing his finger at Soma. "Okay, time to go, Onii-chan." Isami said while he dragged the shouting Takumi away from the room. "What was that about?" Soma asked, not understanding Takumi. "S-Soma-kun, we ought to hurry too!" Tadokoro thought as she realised how much time has passed. Majority of the students outside were at the river as expected from Aika. 'I wonder how many of them are going to fail. So simple minded.' Aika thought as she looked at them before continuing to gather her ingredients.
"Damn it, I can't catch a thing!" A student shouted out. "Quiet down you idiot! You are scaring the fish away!" Another student that was fishing shouted to him. "Stupid. Two wrong doesn't make a right. You shouting at him is also scaring the fish away." Aika mumbled as she gathered her home made flour that she was making, immediately starting on another batch as this batch didn't come out the way she wanted. "Okay, we got one. We can use it to make a Meuniere and-" The guy was cut of by his partner that said they don't have any flour. "I told you to go find bamboo shoots or something out there." Another guy said. "I tried! I looked everywhere but I couldn't find a thing!" His partner argue back, not seeing the bamboo shoot on the ground right in front of them. 'When people are thrust into sudden unforeseen situations, their field of vision shrinks considerably. Their thoughts scatter and go in circles. They don't think choices or actions through. This assignment is just a small test. Any chef who fails something as minor as this has no place in Totsuki.' Hinako thought as she sips on her tea, looking pretty evil. While Soma was fishing quietly, Tadokoro was fidgeting and pacing around. "We have to hurry and start cooking soon. Soma-kun, have you decided on what to cook yet?" Tadokoro asked, panicking big time. 'If we catch a Char or a Rainbow Trout, we could grill it or should we boil it in soy sauce instead? And what about the garnish? We need to forage for vegetables too.' Soma thought while he fished. "Maybe, but don't you think everybody else is going to do the same thing? I wanna try to mix it up a little." Soma said as he concentrated back to fishing. "This isn't the time for that! Our biggest worry is finishing any dish!" Tadokoro said as Soma agreed with her thought, still thinking of a dish to make.
After a good while, they finally caught a fish and went back. "Oh thank goodness we caught a fish." Tadokoro said as she blew out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, let's head back to the kitchen." Soma said as he spot someone in the near distance, also walking back. The people he spotted just coincidently happens to be Takumi and Isami. "And prepare for impartial judgement." Soma said, teasing the poor blond that scream to him to shut up. "Hmph, You two went for fish as well? Sheesh, everybody is doing that today. Just because the dish has to be Japanese doesn't mean it must be a fish. Honestly, doesn't anyone here have creativity at all?" Takumi said as they walked in. "Well don't you sound so smug. what sort of 'creative' thing did you find?" Soma said as he glared at Takumi. "You want to know? I found a duck!" Takumi said as he raised a featherless duck up, seeming to have prepped it before coming back. "What? He found a duck?" A student said, totally out of his mind. "And not just one. They had chickens and rabbits inside the area too. I was totally surprised no one even thought of looking for them." Takumi said, very proud of himself. "Damn it! There was more than a river outside!" A student said, angry that he hadn't thought of it. "Yeah, maybe. But I don't know how to dress ducks or rabbits." His partner said, seemingly upset as well. "Out of my way, you too as well, Yukihira." Takumi said as they went back to their station, not before pushing Soma away by holding his shoulder which made Soma realise something. "Soma-kun, what's wrong?" Tadokoro asked while Soma didn't reply.
"Isami, butcher and trim this, okay?" Takumi said as he handed him the duck. "On it." Isami said and as if something switched on in him, he changed, cleaning the duck out fast. 'Oh wow! He's slicing off the breast and thigh meat with such precision. He's going fast but he isn't nicking the bird's innards at all!' What deft work!' Tadokoro thought as she stared at his skill. "Hm? Do you need something?" Isami turned to face Tadokoro, feeling her stare while he separated the duck into many pieces. "O-oh! No, I was just thinking how good you are at that." Tadokoro said as she freaked out. "Heh heh, you think so? Thanks, but Onii-chan is three times faster at it than I am." Isami said as he put the last piece down and slid it to Takumi. Takumi received it immediately, stopping it from moving further before slicing small cuts into it and quickly prep it with the spices prepared for him. After that, he started frying it for a little while before quickly taking out the excess oil. 'There's no delay, no wasted movement. Every motion flows seamlessly from one into the next. It's amazing! Who is he?' Tadokoro thought as she looked at him cooking, amazed. "Yeah, I'm not surprised he could do at least that much." Soma said which caught Tadokoro's attention. "What?" Tadokoro asked, not understanding how Soma would know. "His hands. Those are the hands of someone who knows their way around a real kitchen." Soma said as he recalled the hands that was on his shoulder. After Takumi put the sauce on the duck, he put it in the oven. "Frono (Oven), Accendere (Alight)." Takumi said as he started to bake his dish.
"Oh right, I haven't introduce myself yet. My name is Aldini Takumi and this is my younger brother, Aldini Isami. We work at our family's Trattoria back at home in Italy." Takumi said as he turned to look at Soma. "Trattoria?" Tadokoro asked. "It's the Italian word for a lower end eatery that serves the masses." Takumi said as Soma look at him with surprise. "I'm just like you, Yukihira. I, too am a chef who's spent his life protecting the family's restaurant."Takumi said as he pulled on his arm to show Trattoria Aldini written on it. "What was it you said? You have no intention of losing to anyone who hasn't cooked for customers? How about you save that line after you have beaten me. Yukihira or Aldini, I'll prove to you which one is better!" Takumi said, determine to beat him. "Hah. Sounds like fun!" Soma said, pulling out the cloth he always ties on his waist, tying it on his head. "Bring it on!" Soma said as he looked at them, finish tying the cloth on. "Nice competition you got there, Soma-kun." Aika said, walking through the front door. "Aika? What took you so long?" Soma asked, knowing how Aika should have no problem with this test. "Sigh, I needed to make one of the ingredients I need since it was not provided." Aika said as she walked to her place which was in the middle of the whole room. "Hm? What didn't we provide?" Hinako asked, wanting to know what took Aika so long. "Flour." Aika said as she took out flour that she put inside a container. "You made your own flour?" Takumi said, not believing the fact that someone would go so far out for just one dish. "I wanted to make it so I decided why not." Aika said, not caring of everybody's stares.
"Japan? I don't get it. Why do I have to go to some cooking school, and one all the way in Japan at that?" Takumi said, not understanding why his uncle is making him go. "It isn't just any school, Takumi. It's the world famous. Going there can only help you. Don't worry about the shop. You can go to Japan and hone your skills as much as you want. "What do you think, Isami?" Takumi asked, not knowing what to do. "If you are going to go then I will too, Onii-chan." Isami replied. Isami and Takumi were half Japanese twins. Their father was Japanese and their mother was Italian. They've both been helping out at the family Trattoria since they were five. But thanks to their Japanese uncle's advice, they transferred into Totsuki Institute in their second year of junior high. 'I'm going to learn everything I can from this place before going back to Italy. Then I'm going to create a style of Italian food only Aldini's could make. There's no way I'm going to lose to any of these kids my age. I have already spent my whole life working in a real kitchen.' Takumi thought as he went through his junior high years but that all changed when it came to high school. "I've got no intentions to lose to a bunch of students that have never cooked for customers before so now that I'm in, I'll be taking the top spot." Soma said during the ceremony, the one thing that Takumi thought wouldn't happened, happened. 'You called yourself a pro, in that case as one pro to another, I can't let you beat me!' Takumi thought as he pulled out his Mezzaluna while everybody exclaimed at the sight of it. 'A Mezzaluna, meaning half moon in Italian, it's a two handed knife used in many facets of Italian cooking.' Aika thought as she watched.
"Time to begin." Takumi said as he started mincing with the Mezzaluna. "Whoa! He minced those vegetables to paste in no time! How did he get so good at using that weird knife?" Somebody asked. "Seven minutes until the breast meat is finished roasting." Isami informed Takumi. "Good! We'll use that time to finish the salsa!" Takumi said as Isami agreed with him. "Tritare (Mincing) will be done in Dieci (Ten)." Takumi said while Isami had replied that washing is finish. When the count to ten is finish, Takumi immediately gave one side which Isami grabbed before he started mincing his ingredients while Takumi mix in a sauce with the salsa, took the duck out of the oven and put the salsa on it. Just like that, they were finish and ready to serve. "So your the first. Light and casual is a hallmark of true Italian cooking." Hinako said as she looked at them. 'That was way too fast.' One of the students thought while another thought, 'That fast, when did they had that whole duck to dress?' 'They barely took an hour. Spicy Roast Duck with Green Salsa, Huh?' Aika thought as she looked at the clock, very amused. "Buon Appetito." Takumi said as he served the dish. 'The gamey flavour of the duck is strong and fragrant and the potent spices clear the sinuses with a fresh burst refining the meat's flavour even further. The melding of refreshing spices with the masculine taste of game meat creates a deep, bass harmony that reverberates all the way to the stomach. It's a veritable duck aria!' Hinako thought as she took a bite. 'This is one duck whose serenade I would gladly give in to!' Hinako thought again as she imagined being in a duck man's hand on the stage.
"Hey, wait, that green sauce! I know what that is, it's salsa verde!" A student shouted. 'Salsa Verde. A sauce made primarily of finely minced Italian parsley and cured anchovies. It is often a garnish for grilled meat or vegetable dishes and is considered a staple sauce in Italian cuisine. Unfortunately some people are just too dumb and assume that just because they are Italian they will use an Italian sauce and not a Japanese one.' Aika thought as students started to shout their protest of not following the theme. "No, he does not fail. This salsa wasn't made from cured anchovies. Instead, It primarily uses Uruka, a specific type of Shiokara sauce made from sweetfish. Am I right, Inui sensei?" Aika said as she walked up to them, catching their attention. "Correct. Uruka typically requires over a week to make. However, this is an 'instant' version, is it not?" Hinako said as she looked at Takumi which nodded his head. "Wash sweetfish viscera and boil them in sake for two minutes. Then flavour with soy sauce, salt and mirin. The results is a quickly made yet still rich and appropriately bitter, Uruka." Aika said as Takumi looked at her with interest. "Instant Uruka?! I didn't know that was possible." Another student said, only reminding Aika of how people like these won't pass. "Exactly, with instant Uruka, I made it a Japanese style Salsa Verde!" Takumi said, confident in his and his brother's ability. "Aldini Takumi and Aldini Isami, you both pass!" Hinako said which Aika knew was going to happen before she went back to her place.
"Soma-kun." Aika said which caught the attention of the Aldini brothers, Soma, Tadokoro and Hinako. "Yeah?" Soma said, not knowing what Aika wanted. " Time is running out so I need to start now to finish. Gomen, I can't wait for you anymore." Aika said as she tied her hair with her silver ribbon. "Tadokoro, I think we should just do our own thing now." Soma suddenly said which made Tadokoro question him. "In this state, she won't acknowledge anything but her cooking. She is limited now, which means that she is going to be much more faster than her normal self." Soma said. "Faster? But she is already so fast!" Tadokoro said as she tried to imagine it. "She was slowing down by a lot that time. Now, you will see why she earned the title 'The Dancing Moon'." Soma said, his brain getting to work as Aika was done. With that, she took out a knife and started cutting faster than Tadokoro had ever seen. Within moments, she was already done chopping the cabbage, onion, garlic and carrot. "What the!" Takumi said as he saw Aika done with what she had chopped. 'The pieces are all the same size and length but she did that in only a minute!' Takumi thought as he stared in shock with all the other students except for Soma. Aika completely zoned out to her surroundings, not even realising that Soma got himself in another competition and had token Hinako's Kaki No Tane. She did not even realised that Tadokoro was gone running errands for Soma. By the time she was done preparing her ingredients, which also included half a pound of ground pork that she had sliced off from a now dead pig, only thirty minutes have passed, shorter than the supposed time to prepare the dish, which was about forty minutes long.
With that, Aika heated a tablespoon of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. She then mixed in cabbage, onion, garlic and carrot and cook and stir until the cabbage was limp. Aika then mixed in the ground pork and an egg she found from a chicken and cooked until pork is evenly brown and the egg is no longer runny. With that, she preheat vegetable oil in another large skillet over medium high heat and left it before placing approximately 1 tablespoon of the cabbage and pork mixture in the center of each hand made wrapper slices made and cut out from the dough that came from her flour. She folded the wrappers in half over the filling and with her fingers dipped in a bowl of water near her, she sealed the edges with her moistened fingers. then, in the preheated vegetable oil, she cooked the gyoza approximately 1 minute per side, until it lightly browned before placing the water into skillet and reduce the heat. Aika then covered the skillet and allow the gyoza to steam until the water is completely gone. While she was waiting for the gyoza to be cooked, in a small bowl she mixed soy sauce and rice vinegar as a dipping sauce for the finished gyoza. 'One down, another to go.' Aika thought as she took a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and combine dashi granules and water bringing it to a boil. She then reduced the heat to medium and whisk in the miso paste she had made while waiting for the water to boil just now. With her hand made miso paste all whisk in, she put in some small diced tofu she found and stirred. She then separated the layers of the green onions, and add them to the soup and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes.
When she was done and started to clean while waiting, she looked up to see how Soma and Tadokoro was doing only to see them already serving the dish. 'I should really trust his brain a bit more.' Aika thought as she sigh and smiled a tiny smile. "Oh my, look at this! My Kaki No Tane crackers turned into a lovely breading!" Hinako said, simply delighted with how it turned out. "Go on Inui sensei. Don't let it get cold. Dig in!" Soma said as Hinako took a bite and chewed. "What a wonderful crunch! And yet the Char's meat was still hot and deliciously juicy! The breading perfectly contained inside it's protective shell the savoury flavour of the dish! The Kaki No Tane crackers came already seasoned so the breading itself had a solid and delicious taste. And the dipping sauce is perfect! The Ki No Me mixed with Tamago No Moto is wonderfully light and fluffy. That wonderfully smooth creaminess hiding between the crispy crunchiness of the breading really spurs the appetite." Hinako said, delighted with the treat after so many failed dishes. 'Good job Soma-kun. Looks like you have another invention done again. But still not good enough.' Aika thought as she started to finish her clean up. 'The char, in season this spring is snuggly wrapped in a protective shell of Kaki No Tane breading. It's almost like, an elegant mermaid swimming the seas, caught up in a warm, passionate, all-encompassing embrace. I Feel like I'm drowning in my love for crackers!' Hinako thought as she yet again took another bite. "Yukihira Soma, Tadokoro Megumi, you pass!" Hinako said after awhile. "Happy to serve." Soma said as he took off his cloth from his head, tying it back onto his waist.
"Good job, Soma-kun." Aika said as she came over with her dish in one hand, the other by her side. "Oh, Aika. Your done?" Soma asked, looking at her as she put her dish down. "I was done when you and Megumi-chan's dish was being evaluated." Aika said as she took the cover off her dish. "Gyoza and Miso Soup? What an odd combination." Hinako said as she took the chopsticks provided and dip the gyoza in the sauce provided before taking a bite. "Ah! Such tenderness and juiciness. The flavours melted into each other so nicely and the dipping sauce just helps to enhance the flavour even more!" Hinako said as she took a few more bites. "That taste... Is it cheese?" Hinako asked, surprised by that familiar taste. "Mhm. It took me so long to make my ingredients because of this cheese as well. I realised that there was goats at the rather far part of this area so I went to see if there was any cheese there and I found a variety of them. Unfortunately none of them was what I wanted so I ended up mixing a few types of cheese together to get this flavour." Aika said while everyone was shock that there was cheese. "I didn't realise that anyone would actually find it. How did you know?" Hinako asked, taking another one to eat. "Since there was chickens and rabbits around, I thought that there would be other animals as well so I decided to go looking around the area. When I was near the border, the grass there was slightly trampled which confirmed my thoughts. There I found goats, cows and pigs which is where I got the pork from in the gyoza." Aika said, not caring at the fact that she has crushed almost everyone's dignity.
'She is very observant. To be able to tell the difference between a human's and an animal's traces, you must first have experience.' Hinako thought, surprised. "Well the, moving on, let me try the soup." Hinako said as she snapped back and realised that she finished all the gyoza. "What a nice smell." Hinako said as she took a gulp. 'So warm! It feels like the embrace of your lover on a cold winter day, near the fireplace. Such a nice feeling, I don't feel like ever letting go.' Hinako thought, unaware that on the surface she suddenly blanked out for awhile. "Inui sensei? Is she okay?" Takumi asked, a bit worried. "No worries. This happens very often. Aika's food has the ability to make one go into a state of dreamland where they would never want to come out of. When the effect is over, they would usually take large bites to go back to that bliss moment." Soma said, not affected one bit. "It always happens?" Takumi asked again, feeling astounded. "So far, none has been able to resist not taking another bite of her food. Compared to her, we are probably just a small obstacle if harshly said but she treats us as her friends so I don't think we are anything like a burden to her at all. She won't have anybody that can harm her around her after all." Soma said, feeling more determined to beat Aika. "So young yet so proficient." Takumi said, looking at her. "Yeah, her childhood is rather brutal compared to us after all." Soma mumbled, not knowing that Takumi heard what he said. "Soma-kun, give it a break. The past is in the past." Aika said, not looking back at him. "Fine fine." Soma reluctantly said. "Inui sensei, how did I do?" Aika asked, not wanting to waste more time.
"Your dish is definitely very good. Mimanoya Aika, you pass with flying colours." Hinako said, making other people feel spiteful because of the ingredients she found. "Thank you for your praises." Aika said, taking off her ribbon that is tying up her hair, letting her hair loose once again. "Time is up. This concludes today's assignment." Hinako said as she claps her hands. "Whew, that was close. I made it just under the wire." One of the student said while the people that failed were just crying and lamenting over their misfortune. 'Barely made it? Inui sensei is already really relaxed with her judgment. They won't last if it was a strict teacher then. Poor things are going to need to dig a grave sooner or later either way.' Aika thought, not caring about them in the slightest. "Inui sensei, if you would please give your judgement on the dish." Takumi said, wanting to know who won as well as Soma which was just beside him. "As you wish. The winner is..." Hinako said as she went about trying to choose between the two dishes which gave Takumi and Soma horrible anxiety with her hesitation and Isami a good laugh. "Hm?" Hinako said as she heard her phone ring. When she picked up her phone she was immediately scolded by Shinomiya as her group was late back which cause her to quickly rush the students to the bus. "But what about your decision? Who won?" Soma and Takumi said while Hinako was panicking. "Oh right. My official decision is..."
Meaning of words:
Kaki No Tane: A type of Japanese crackers.
Shiokara: Salted, fermented fish viscera.
Ki No Me: The young leaves of the Japanese pepper plant.
Tamago No Moto: Mayonnaise without the vinegar. It is simply egg yolks and vegetable oil whisked into a creamy consistency.
A/N: Hello my lovely little lions. Here is another bonus chapter because of me not updating for a whole year. I'm actually not sure whether I can update anymore as long as there is classes which means that the same thing might happen as this year but I will try my best to update once in a while when I have holiday next year. I can't promise anything yet so if I'm not able to do so I will probably do the same thing as I have this year which is a load of updates in the year end. Thank you for reading and supporting me throughout this whole book. This is the second bonus update and I hope you like it.