Chapter 3: Medicinal Cuisine and Shokugeki
A week had passed since Shogo began his life at Totsuki Academy.
He had grown fairly accustomed to the new routine and settled into a comfortable daily rhythm.
Soma had enrolled exactly as in the original story, so there were no issues on that front. If anything, the only minor problem was that Soma had beaten him to the new-student greeting during the entrance ceremony. While Shogo had been busy chatting with Erina, who was standing nearby as the freshman representative, Soma had somehow already climbed onto the stage.
The bomb he dropped there—"I only see this school as a stepping stone. Now that I'm in, I'm taking the top spot"—had sent the entire hall into a storm of boos. When it was Shogo's turn to speak next, Erina had given him a sympathetic look.
Once the crowd learned how humbly he had phrased his own speech and realized he was a member of the powerful Santoku family, the booing quickly died down. It had been an unpleasant way to stand out, but the damage was minor.
"…Well, at least I managed to get a little closer to Erina, so I'll call it even."
Sharing the experience of being swept up by Soma's antics seemed to have created a sense of camaraderie. The reason didn't matter.
In the end, the one who would claim Erina would be him.
"All right… time to get ready."
He gathered what he needed and left his room. Today was the day of an important match.
A Shokugeki against Arato Hisako.
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"—And now the Shokugeki has reached its climax! Both contestants appear to have finished their dishes!"
The emcee's voice rang out across the spacious arena, and the crowd's excitement surged in response. It was just a cooking duel, yet they had turned it into a full-scale event. This academy really did everything on an absurdly grand scale when it came to food.
"First to serve is contestant Arato! She serves as the personal secretary to the renowned Nakiri Erina! Just how skilled is she—?!"
The cheerful emcee was a female student named Kawashima Urara. With her cute gestures and deliberately coquettish tone, she apparently enjoyed idol-like popularity among the boys. She was adorable, but her figure was nothing more than average for her age. She didn't have the kind of charm that made you want to pin her down and fuck her senseless. Then again, that was only because the girls around her were on another level; she probably did just fine with normal guys.
…There are a lot of people here for a first-year Shokugeki.
Even under the gaze of such a massive audience, Shogo felt no particular nervousness. He had been trained to handle this kind of attention since he was a child. Besides, although he had only been enrolled for a week, this was already his second Shokugeki. The reason was simple: the room he had moved into two days earlier.
When deciding where to live, he had immediately ruled out sharing the Polar Star Dorm with Soma. Getting too close to the main cast would be a hassle, and that dorm offered zero privacy. For someone who planned to bring girls back to his room constantly, it was completely unsuitable. The solution had been easy.
He had won a third-year student's room in a Shokugeki.
A Shokugeki required equal stakes, but as the eldest son of the Santoku family, he had used his family's influence as collateral. The upperclassman had accepted the match without hesitation, figuring it was a good deal since Shogo only wanted the room. Thanks to that, Shogo had moved into a spacious, beautiful room almost immediately after enrolling. It came with a full kitchen, a shower, and a bathtub. He had even brought in his own king-size bed. There was nothing to complain about—it was exactly what you'd expect from a senior's private quarters.
"—My dish is 'Salmon Herb Bake, Medicinal Style.'"
While Shogo was quietly savoring how easy life had become, his opponent, Hisako, presented her dish. The main ingredient for the match had been salmon. She had apparently combined it with her specialty in medicinal cuisine.
But far more pressing than the food was the fact that Hisako looked way too erotic in her chef's coat. The way it perfectly outlined her breasts and ass, bouncing with every movement—it had to be against the rules. Sexual harassment, plain and simple.
…The judges seem impressed. Yeah, it does look good.
Praise poured in from the tasting panel one after another. Hisako herself seemed to sense the positive reaction; a satisfied expression settled on her face.
"…Sorry, but I'm not losing."
Of course he had no intention of losing. He had been the one to challenge her to this Shokugeki. Winning was absolutely necessary if he wanted to devour Arato Hisako.
Convincing her to accept the match had been simple. He had dangled the memory of the serious omelette he had served during Erina's exam and asked if she didn't want to taste it. The fact that he had stopped her from trying it back then had worked perfectly here. As expected, Hisako had jumped at the chance, proposing that if she won, he would make it for her. Everything had gone exactly according to plan—almost too smoothly.
The dish he was serving today wasn't made with full effort. He had deliberately held back to just barely surpass Hisako's level. Since the match had drawn more attention than expected, he had chosen to play it safe for now. There was no need to stand out too much yet.
What he had prepared was a simple "Salmon Foil Bake." It would be more than enough to win.
And then—
"The results are in! The winner is contestant Santoku by a score of 2–1!"
—The match ended without a hitch.
He had defeated Arato Hisako.
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The day after the Shokugeki.
"Here. This is my room."
"…P-pardon the intrusion."
It was a school holiday, and at the unusually early hour of ten in the morning, the girl who stepped cautiously into his room was none other than Arato Hisako. Raised in a strict household, she had probably never set foot in a boy her own age's room before. The way she looked around curiously was actually pretty cute.
"You don't have to be so tense. I'll make some tea."
"I-I'm not tense!"
It was obviously a lie, but he wasn't going to call her on it. A guy who knew how to handle women never exposed their little white lies.
The condition Shogo had set for his victory in the Shokugeki was that Hisako would teach him everything she knew about medicinal cuisine.
Of course, that was nothing but a pretext. He couldn't care less about medicinal cuisine. The only thing he was interested in was Hisako's body.
"W-wow, it's a really big room… and the bed is huge."
"You already knew that, right? I won it in the Shokugeki."
"…To think I lost to a first-year against a third-year senior… I never got cocky, but still…"
"Nah, it was seriously close. That herb bake you made was outstanding, Hisako-san."
Hisako's face turned red. It seemed less like a reaction to the compliment on her cooking and more like embarrassment at being called by her first name.
"H-hey… that's too familiar, Santoku Shogo."
"Haha, full name? Just Shogo is fine. I'll keep calling you Hisako-san, too. Maybe I should've added that to the conditions."
At those words, Hisako looked reluctant but closed her mouth. She was the type who valued perfection; as long as he used the match result as a shield, he could push small things like this through.
"Here, try saying it."
"Sho… Shogo…"
"Well done, Hisako-san."
"D-don't treat me like a child!"
Raising her voice seemed to ease some of her tension. Hisako dropped onto the cushion, sitting formally on her knees the way a well-bred young lady would. His gaze naturally drifted to her pale legs, which her skirt couldn't fully hide.
"All right, just like we agreed, I'll have you teach me about medicinal cuisine. We have two days—until tomorrow. I've already cleared it with Nakiri-san so you can take time off from secretary duties."
"I-I understand… It's embarrassing, but Lady Erina has given her permission. I'll pass on as much of my knowledge as I can."
The omelette from the entrance exam was still having an effect; Erina's opinion of him was extremely high. In a world where cooking ability was everything, it was only natural. That was probably why she hadn't objected when he asked to borrow Hisako. Hisako herself seemed to acknowledge his skill as well—she didn't appear overly upset about losing, especially since it had been a narrow 2–1 instead of a total shutout.
Guess going all-out in the exam was worth it.
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