Entrée 2: A Cook-off War Waged

Waking up early in the morning is most likely one of the most difficult things one has to do every day in life, especially when it’s early spring mornings. The sun was barely up; even so, there was only a pathetic touch of what seemed to be light from the giant fireball of a sun. Those who live in four-seasoned countries would definitely understand that instant, bone-chilling sensation after getting out of bed.

Our main character was, inevitably, no exception to that.

The digital clock displayed the time: 7 o’clock. While most would’ve been compelled to gather themselves up by an alarm, Ren remained snugged in his irresistibly warm bed. The spring air was particularly cold that morning, so it only encouraged Ren’s insistence on staying in bed. He might’ve opted for skipping class that day were it not for his steward.

A daily routine it was for the aged man to get his young master out of bed… for the past five years.

First, he rang the doorbell. Ren would groan at the sound and wriggle himself deeper into the covers. Only during rare occasions would the tertiary student voluntarily open the front door for him, so he had his own set of spare keys made to let himself in.

From thereon, the steward would bypass the living room and into the bedroom, and find from under the covers, a head of messy blonde hair sticking out in all directions. “Ren-sama, it’s time to get up.”

No response.

The only solution to this was to forcefully pull the covers off of the boy. With a strong haul, the steward tried again. “Good… morning, Ren-sama!”

Ren shivered the moment the cold air pierced his skin, and he inadvertently scrunched his beautiful eyebrows. “Morning, Sebastian.”

“Good morning to you, too, Ren-sama,” the gray-haired man answered with his usual quirky smile. “Might I remind you that it is already five minutes past seven?”

“Yes, yes… I’ll have a shredded roast turkey and omelette sandwich, some baked mushrooms, hash browns, and a cup of the normal coffee to-go,” Ren ordered as he sluggishly sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Toou Academy is an institution that hires professional butlers to serve its tertiary branch members. Aside from tending to the their’ needs, the stewards would also be required to provide assistance in practical studies, ensuring in the students’ safety, and even cleaning up after them (a.k.a. a butler/assistant/bodyguard/cleaner). The only thing the butlers were not hired to do was to do the plumbing; the school had plumbers for that.

While most would prefer getting assigned to a new student than following their masters after graduation, Sebastian was a devoted, pet-of-a-Ren butler who had grown a peculiar attachment to the young man, though he never said it. There was just something about Ren’s work that never ceased to mesmerize him. Sure, he was a wrinkly, old, gray-haired man who seemed more like a ‘Tanaka-san’ than a ‘Sebastian’; sure, he was scrawny and more passive than aggressive in nature, but hiding underneath those aged eyes were years of polished dexterity that was more than sufficient to keep him by Ren’s side. So he’s not entirely a useless old fart either.

“Ah, a more English palate this morning, I see. Excellent choice, sir,” he remarked as he handed his ward an enveloped letter.

Ren eyed him with a raised brow. The latter, who clearly understood the unspoken implications, explained, “It’s another one of those challenge letters, sir, from a secondary student.”

There’s no questioning that the only challenge letters issued to him were from the secondary division. Primary students knew better than to come into Ren’s cross hairs - they’d stand no chance! Tertiary students, on the other hand, simply couldn’t be bothered with declaring war on each other.

“Thanks, you may now send my orders to the chef.”

“Ren-sama, it may not be my place to advise you on what to do but… please, do go easy on this challenger. It’s the first brave one this year.”

Perhaps Sebastian felt sorry for Ren’s opponents. His young master was no merciful upperclassman, after all, so you either win or you break.

The moment the steward left the room, Ren reached for his letter opener on his writing desk, locating just next to his bed, and opened the envelope. To wage war, Toou students must follow a set of rules.

One, both parties must agree voluntarily on the battle. Two, both parties must agree on terms of equal value; some may choose to exclude this section, but where would the fun be? Three, an odd number of at least three rule-regulating staff is required. Four, battle theme and whatnot are to be determined by the challenger. It's the same as war in the real world. Five, any form of cheating would result in the other party's victory.

Kikunae Masaki, from secondary division class 2-F, has officially challenged Tenouji Ren, from tertiary department’s culinary arts course, to a single-player cook-off at 9a.m.

Conditions are that

if Kikunae Masaki were to win,

     ·        Tenouji Ren is to voluntarily resign from Toou Academy.

if Tenouji Ren were to win,

     ·        Kikunae Masaki is to

            1.     Confess to the person he likes.

            2.     Permanently act as Tenouji Ren’s slave unless otherwise dismissed.

Warring in Toou is a cultural tradition used not only for the sake of entertainment, but also as a crucial stepping stone to hone one’s skills against a stronger opponent. One would develop tactical and communication skills during the process, which were characteristics required for one to survive in the real world.

Two modes are available: single-player and multiplayer.

For single-player modes, each of the two opposing ends is to have only one challenger. They will then proceed to something called a ‘death match’ where they battle with whatever theme the challenger has chosen. An example would be a cook-off.

Multiplayer modes are somewhat different to single-player modes in a sense that a minimum player of two per group is necessary. This is where rules may vary, so it’s up to both parties to decide on what it takes to win. Sport-related themes are most commonly found using this mode.

As far as prizes went, they could be anything: from servitude to bizarre objects, to expensive merchandise. Books that have terminated publication appealed exceptionally to Ren’s liking - he was an avid book collector. If by such means he could get his hands on more of those priceless books, so be it. Even teachers periodically declared war on him to get their hands on some. Needless to say, it took tremendous effort just to get that one book.

After a warm shower, Ren proceeded to dressing in his chef uniform, which consisted of a black and white chef jacket, and a pair of light gray slacks, just in time for the breakfast Sebastian brought.

Ren only finished his hash browns and baked mushrooms before heading out towards the cook-off stadium (sandwich and coffee in hand). Along the way, occasional murmurs about the food battle from passers-by could be heard. Of course, it was entirely ridiculing the challenger for declaring war at beginning of the school year.

On the contrary, Ren mused at his opponent’s tactic in that respect – he had merely begun cooking for less than a month. To have a higher chance of winning would mean one had to strike when the iron’s still hot, and when better to do it than before the target hones any professional skills?

“Tenouji-sama, good luck in the cook-off later on, we’ll be rooting for you!” a female student exclaimed while her friends were trying to hush her. Another became brave enough and called out, “That guy's just being arrogant! Knock some sense into him!”

All of the students in the group wore red ribbons or ties, so it puzzled Ren. Nonetheless, he replied a “thank you” and an “alright” in between bites of his sandwich.

Aren’t they supposed to be cheering for their classmate?

Then, it struck him.

Masaki was an F class student, meaning: he belonged to the lowest graded class in the entire level. One would find it more reasonable if class A or B students were the ones issuing the challenges instead.

“Goooooood morning people! I’m Miyano Ibuki and I’ll be your commentator for the war today,” the red ribboned commentator announced into her microphone as she stood excitedly in the control booth. “With me here today as a guest from tertiary department, Mitsuhashi Seijuuro-senpai.”

“Thank you for having me here.”

“Taking part in today’s food battle will be Tenouji Ren from the tertiary division and Kikunae Masaki from the secondary division. Tell me, senpai. Why do you think he would challenge our school’s legend at this time of the year?”

“That’s a very good question,” Seijuuro remarked. “I can see Kikunae-kun entering the building. Why don't you go ask the person himself?”

Ibuki spared no moment scurrying down the stairs towards the ring, not forgetting to bring a functioning wireless microphone with her.

Standing at a little over five foot seven, Masaki had a less than lean figure. The navy blue hair that he kept back with a thin, black headband gleamed a lighter shade under the stadium spotlight. His eye color leaned more towards a greenish-blue mix than an ocean blue.

“Hello. Can you tell us your reason for issuing the challenge today?” Ibuki asked as she held the mic closer to Masaki’s mouth. He frowned and surprisingly, grabbed the microphone over with force. “Just because that guy’s a little good-looking and has managed to claw his way into the upper branch, that doesn’t mean we all have to be afraid of challenging him, no matter when it is.

Besides, I want to show people that that guy’s nothing special than the rest of us!”

Just then, Ren indifferently sauntered into the stadium. This caught everybody’s instant attention before the girls present began screaming cheers at him. Majority of the male population, however, had been shaken by Masaki’s tiny speech and became displeased with the man’s lack of interest in the war.

“Tenouji Ren has now entered the battleground!” the commentator announced after retrieving her microphone from Masaki. She trotted towards the blue-eyed contestant. “Tenouji-san, can you please tell us why you’ve accepted this cook-off?”

“No comment,” Ren answered as he finished off the last piece of his sandwich and brushed the crumbs off of his hands.

The stadium seats in the cooking arena were full that day, which had been occupied by a keen audience of mainly secondary students. At the center of the hall was a ring with two cooking stations, along with tables of ingredients and refrigerators surrounding it. The three judges were seated at the judge’s panel located opposite to the hall entrance at where Ren and Ibuki stood.

Ever since Ren’s arrival, Masaki had been glaring darts at him; anybody could roughly guess the words those eyes were trying to convey.

I’m going to beat you.

However, Ren merely shrugged it off and made his way up towards his work station. He returned a brief glance at his opponent before accustoming himself with the tools.

“Yo, you have some guts to show up. Did you really think you have the skills to win me?”

Ren halted all actions and raised a brow at the blue-haired man. “I could say the same thing for you, waging war on me at the beginning of a school year-”

“Are you saying that you have the power to win against me?” Masaki interrupted. “Hah! I’ll have you know, I happened to have taken the culinary course for at least a year now. I have full confidence that I won’t lose to someone who just started a month ago!”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Well then, let’s get this battle started with!” Ibuki chimed in from back at the control booth.

“I’ll be clarifying the terms of the contest. If Tenouji loses, he’d have to leave Toou Academy.” Most of the present audience drew in sharp breaths; Ren was definitely a man of many talents, even though he can be difficult to work with at times… and rather rude. Still, it would be a waste to lose someone like that just from a cook-off challenge. “But if Kikunae loses, he has to confess to the person he likes and permanently be Tenouji’s slave.”

Laughter echoed throughout the building; especially from those belonging to class 2-F, because they knew exactly who it was.

“The style of today’s cook-off is Japanese; the theme is ‘the bento that screams Japanese childhood’; the main ingredient is none. They will have only one hour to serve our judges. Now let the cook-off… begin!”

Ding!

Only Masaki grabbed a basket and rushed for the ingredients. He glided past Ren with a triumphant smirk, who had failed to notice it as he remained rooted to his countertop to think of a plan.

He’s good, Ren thought. Not surprisingly, his opponent had taken complete advantage of him not growing up in a full Japanese family. And in this case, Masaki had made the right decision. Ren had yet to experience a Japanese-styled bento made by his mother… considering the fact that his mother is an English woman. He did grow up with plenty of fruits, milk and sandwiches.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

But that’s beyond the point!

If he loses now, he’ll have to quit Toou.

~ Earlier ~

Panting, Louise darted through the pedestrians to reach that head of dirty blonde hair. Even though there had been a huge flood of people shoving and tugging each other at the cooking stadium entrance earlier, she had a premonition that somehow, Ren was involved.

“Tenouji-senpai,” she called out, to which he reacted by turning his handsome face towards her. His cold, blue eyes met with her concerned gray ones. Even though he's been nothing but rude to her, she still considered Ren as her respectable upperclassman. As an act out of courtesy, Ren shifted his body so that it would face hers. He said nothing, waiting for her to begin the conversation.

“Is… is it true? That you’re… you’re being challenged to a cook-off… by Kikunae-kun?” Louise asked as she tried to catch her breath. He nodded. “It’s a normal occurrence.”

“Tenouji-senpai.”

“Yes.”

“About Kikunae-kun…” she began tentatively. “We used to be very good friends back in high school. I don’t know why he wants to fight you all of a sudden, but he’s really not a bad guy!”

“So?”

“Uhm…”

Ren narrowed his eyes. In a slightly accusing tone, he challenged, “Are you telling me to go easy on him?”

“Ah no… I just-“

“I’m not the kind of person who would spare anyone in a fight.”

Ren was obviously pissed at something.

“Now that I think about it, that guy’s from class 2-F,” he stated as he turned back towards the stadium building. “I had a bit of investigation done on you and apparently, you're from his class. It makes me wonder what kind of ropes you had to pull for someone like you to get all the special treatment-”

Slap!

It only took few seconds for Ren to register a stinging pain on his left cheek. Bewildered, he did nothing and stare wide-eyed. Since when had she gotten in front of him and palm-planted his face?

“You’re so mean, senpai! To think that I thought you could be nice, my mistake,” the brunette exclaimed before dashing away from him, the hurt look remained evident in her glistening eyes. Perhaps he really did go too far with that comment. Ren gently massaged his throbbing cheek, deciding to finish his food upon entering the building.

I won’t lose to someone like you two.

~ Back to the present ~

At this point of the cook-off, all focus was locked onto Masaki, who was more than halfway done in his prep work. He switched between multiple stations with tremendous speed: from boiling chopped potatoes to air-drying lettuce leaves, to marinating chicken, to beating a mixture of eggs. The rice cooker had been left to cook the white rice.

“Look at him go! I know he’s from class 2-F, but how is it possible for him to be this good? I don’t think even those from class A are this good…!” Ibuki exclaimed.

“Beats me, but hey, do you have a rough idea on what he might be making?”

“Eh heh heh heh… I’ll leave that up to you, senpai.”

“Well,” Seijuuro said as he rubbed his chin. “From the looks of it, he seems to be making potato salad and karaage. I’m not really sure at this point on what egg dish he’s planning to make though.”

After blanching the shrimps and carrots, Masaki began to strain the bowl of egg mixture before pouring them into individual ramekins. He divided the marinated chicken, mushrooms, prawns and carrots among the three, topped with a scallion and covered the baking dishes with an aluminium foil. They were then brought to steam under low heat.

“It’s chawanmushi!” Ibuki practically screamed into the microphone. Everyone’s hands, including the two contestants’, immediately flew up to cover their own ears. Where all the enthusiasm of the commentator came from, nobody knew.

As soon as the potatoes became soft enough, Masaki drained off the water and left the potatoes to air-dry. While waiting, he lightly powdered some marinated chicken thighs in a bowl of starch powder. The moment the chicken came into contact with heated oil, a strong smell of sizzling oil spread throughout the building.

However, Masaki didn’t stop there.

He deep fried the chicken a second time after letting them sit for a while, creating a crispy outer layer for the karaage. All that was left for him to do was to finish up on the salad and plate his work, before…

“Oh what is this? Tenouji seems to have just started boiling an assortment of vegetables. Gosh, it smells good!”

“I’m currently boiling baby carrots, broccoli, turnips and peas in individual pots of dashi broth,” Ren announced as his voice was broadcast to the speakers. Apparently, Seijuuro had run down from the control booth and was holding his mic towards Ren. “Now for the pan-fried salmon, I’ll be using a marinate containing brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, honey, and olive oil. I’ll let it sit in the refrigerator for half an hour, but in the meantime, I’ll be working on tamagoyaki with a seaweed variation.”

“First, you beat the eggs with sugar and salt, but not hard enough to make foam rise. After that, you heat the pan over medium heat and dribble a bit of oil. You then pour a quarter of your mixture into the pan and spread it evenly. As soon as the bottom is cooked enough, place a nori seaweed on top and fold the egg into half. Add more oil at the empty space of the pan and add another quarter of the egg mixture. Gently lift the cooked half so the raw egg can go under it. Repeat the steps until you’ve achieved a roll of eggs.”

The tamagoyaki took enough time for Ren to finish boiling the vegetables. Instead of draining the broth though, he added cubed tofu and miso, creating a delicious miso soup from it.

Following that, Ren turned his attention to the pan-fried salmon. He heated the butter-coated pan surface with a medium heat and gently placed two slices of salmon on top. The sizzling of the fish was accompanied by an aroma that was enough to make everyone’s mouth water.

“Two minutes to go!” Ibuki announced.

Even upon hearing this, none of the contestants broke concentration; the audience, on the other hand, grew more worried for the two with every ticking second, fearing that they would run out of time before they could plate their work.

Three… two… one…

“And stop!”

Beaming with confidence, Masaki placed his bento boxes in a restaurant trolley and pushed it towards the judges. Maybe he was so convinced that he would win that he puffed his chest out a little too much…

…Does he think he has feminine breasts to show or something?

“I’ll be serving you today a bento containing white rice, karaage, potato salad, and chawanmushi.”

“Hmm, adding karaage to a bento, huh? Karaage tastes best immediately out of the fryer. If you put this into an actual bento, which is supposed to sit for several hours, I’m sure it’ll lose some of its crunch frombefore,” one of the judges, a skinny old man with a moustache, fixed the position of his monocle and commented. “But I do have to say, aside from that, the entire dish smells lip-smackingly good.”

“This I can agree with Yasehige-san. It’s also quite unorthodox to place a chawanmushi into a child’s lunch box,” the plumped, middle-aged judge, Futoshiko, agreed. “What do you think, Koujiro-kun?”

The third judge, who was a primary section student known for his highly developed sense of taste, remarked, “I think he’s trying too hard. The only thing I see here that my mom would make is the rice.”

“Well then, itadakimasu.”

Koujiro took a mouthful bite at a karaage, the crunch echoing throughout the hall before the little judge melted into jelly. “I can taste the soy sauce, sake, garlic, and ginger used to marinate the chicken. What surprised me the most would be how well it all mixed.”

“Exquisite! The umami richness from the seafood and mushrooms are kept extremely well in balance by the amount of egg custard.” Futoshiko squealed in delight after taking another bite at her chawanmushi. Sitting next to her, on the other hand, Yasehige seemed in conflict with himself in regards to the potato salad.

“While a fine appetizer, the potato salad itself contains a large amount of starch – which is something I wouldn’t want to eat with rice. However, the crispiness and sweet fruitiness of the apple had blended so pleasantly well with the potato and mayonnaise that it’ll leave you wondering whether you should take a second bite.”

“Next up is Tenouji’s bento. Let’s see whether he can top our judges’ expectations!” Ibuki announced as Ren placed his dish in front of the judges. Now standing behind Ren, Masaki gave an arrogant huff and crossed his arms. Again, the blonde man paid no heed to his opponent’s taunts, much to the latter’s aggravation. “Today I’ll be presenting to you a bento containing pan-friend salmon, an assortment of vegetables, and tamagoyaki, accompanied by rice and miso soup.”

Unlike Masaki’s single-layered lunch box, Ren utilized one made up of three tiers, allowing him to serve the rice at the top layer, an array of side dishes he had previously mentioned to the judges, and at the bottom layer a serving of miso soup with chopped tofu and wakame.

“Bon appétit.”

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It didn’t take long for the judges to come to a conclusion as to who would be the winner. After casting their vote, the huge screens hanging from the center of the ceiling showcased the name of the cook-off victor: Tenouji Ren. It was a unanimous triumph on Ren’s part. The audience cheered for their favorite idol’s as he made his way to his opponent’s bench. Head lowered and hands balled into fists, Masaki trembled with frustration at his loss. He just couldn’t let go the fact that his dish was single-handedly outdone by that blonde guy. Moreover…

“I remember you have two promises to fulfill?” Ren reminded teasingly. To his surprise though, a deep shade of red steadily crept across Masaki’s cheeks. The expression the shorter man had at that time almost made Ren feel sorry for him. Taking a deep breath, Masaki shut his eyes tight before mustering all the courage he had in him to proclaim, “Tenouji Ren, I’m in love with you!”

The entire building immediately went silent. Moments later, someone burst into laughter, to which everybody else eventually followed suit. A dirty look from Ren was the only reply Masaki received.

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That evening after finishing his classes for the day, Ren received a knock on his door. Upon opening, there Masaki stood in all his tomato-faced glory. It took every ounce of Ren’s patience to prevent him from slamming the door right in this guy’s pitiful face.

“What is it?”

 “I uh…” Masaki stumbled. “I forgot to ask when would you prefer for me to be around.”

“Huh?”

“You know what I’m talking about!” Never would’ve Ren thought how Masaki’s cheeks could’ve grown any redder. “It’s about the slave deal.”

A recollection of memories instantly hit the taller man; indeed, it was absolute to follow the conditions laid out for every battle. And it was according to the agreement that Ren had free power to rid Masaki of his servitude anytime, so…

“Please don’t say you’ll fire me now!” the blue-haired man chocked as he panickingly covered Ren’s mouth with his hands. He seemed like he could cry any second, so Ren made no effort to fight him… if you don’t consider glaring as one.

“I’m sure I can be of use to you compared to all your previous assistants.” Masaki broke eye contact and retreat his arms, beginning a slow series of rubbing his upper arm. “As long as it’s prep work, I think I do much better than anybody else in my grade.”

This had Ren thinking twice about getting rid of this guy. Lately, preparation work had been one of the things that frustrated Ren the most, especially when it came to preparing meals for more than a dozen people at a time. In other words, he’s lazy.

Maybe I’ll give him a chance.

“My classes begin from ten to six on Mondays and Wednesdays; practicals are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I experiment on food during the weekends. Come over whenever you have time.”

Joy and excitement practically seeps out of Masaki’s eyes. You could almost see a non-existing tail wagging behind him.

So this is the real Kikunae Masaki…

“Ren-sama-“

Bang!

“Did I hit something? Ah, good day, Ren-sama” Sebastian, who was holding a large frying pan taken from goodness-knows-where, greeted Ren in his normal nothing’s-out-of-the-ordinary manner while Masaki was out cold on the floor. Unconscious, but still grinning like an idiot.

“Ren-sama, might I advise you to not flirt in the middle of the hallway?”

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[Edited 08/29]

Author's Note:

Phew, that took much longer than I thought :'D But if you ask me, I think I like this chapter more than the first. It's funnier, more dramatic, and the beginning of Ren's harem life ('^')9 ...at least in my opinion... And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Louise's pajama questions for Ren. There's simply too much to write in this one chapter >.<

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as how hard I laughed at my own jokes xD See you in the next chapter!