With the lights dimmed in his personal office, the Director of Sekai-Ryouri watched one of his monitors attentively, eyes narrowed on what was being displayed.

One of his assistants stepped over, her heels clicking as she circled the desk he sat at, "You're awfully interested, sir." She spoke, clutching the folders she had with her to her chest. Her appearance was rather elegant, donning silver, calf high boots, and the school's general uniform, though in a custom, all-white colorway.

"Of course I am, Leria." The Director responded, his eyes still glued to the screen, though they narrowed as the cameras focused on the tandem of Rena Koboko and Yuuta Sarito - almost as if it were some sort of television show. Regardless, he continued,

"Three of my precious representatives are all participating in the same challenge within the same classroom. It's of utmost importance that I monitor their progress. Not to mention…"

The same camera cut to Arthur Roma jogging across the classroom, while Itsuki Saito stayed put in his own area, letting out a sigh heavy enough that it could practically have been heard through the screen.

'Leria' didn't initially wish, or plan to pry, but a timely glance towards the monitor and what the Director saw made her gasp, and come hurrying over, her heels clicking loudly with each step, "No way…" She muttered lowly, tipping herself over a bit to get a better view, to the confused glance of the school's administrative leader.

"That's the punk who had trampled me the other day! He's in the same class as all of those elite students?!" She asked, unable to help the fashion in which she raised her voice in a mix of shock and annoyance. It took a moment, but she realized how much she had been overstepping her bounds.

The woman swiftly stepped back and huffed quietly, keeping the items she held clutched tightly to her chest, "Hm. Well, karma exists, and I'm sure he'll be flunking out of the class in no time anyway. I'm not concerned."

"Leria." Finally, the Director spoke to her again, and she in-turn, looked towards him attentively, straightening her posture as she prepared to be addressed,

"You recall the student I told you we were targeting from the States, correct? The one who was claimed to have potential to surpass anyone within these walls, yes?"

The woman raised an eyebrow in response. Yes, she did vaguely recall such a conversation… but wasn't exact;y aware of how relevant that question was at this very moment…

~

"God, I have an unintelligent barbarian as my partner, how fun." Itsuki rolled his eyes, hunched over the table, taking a duo of eggs and pan frying them, while Roma waited for Yuuta to get away from the waffle iron. His competitive spirit was going into overtime after having been played like a fiddle by his rival, and Yuuta himself relished the role he had casted himself to.

The generally-stoic student was in the midst of a situation that had brought him more than a little entertainment, but the same couldn't exactly have been said of his partner. Rena herself sighed a bit, unsure of what to do, how to progress.

Work with him? Pfft, that was a ridiculous thought- not to mention she didn't like him in the slightest. There was also the issue that she struggled to work with people in general, but that was only expedited by this situation in hand. Looking off to the side, she couldn't help but growl a little, but even as she went through her own internal turmoil, her hands began to move.

Just like Itsuki on the other side of the room, she cracked an egg or two and began scrambling them over the stove she worked on, even managing to multitask by pan-frying and seasoning a ground pork patty on the eye just next to her, but she couldn't help but twitch a little.

There were times where she wished she could work with other people, like when she saw cohesive teams work together for a common goal. Teams like Itsuki and Roma.

The two shared constant communication all throughout the cooking process, sharing advice, playful jabs, and even mutual praise as they worked together, working on building up their dish. She actually liked that sort of thing, but admittedly, the anxiety that came with working with someone while she held herself to such a high standard was crippling, and made her steer away from team-based activities.

Comparing that to her own partner, her own team, that sense of comradery was lacking, despite it being what she craved in all of this. Arthur and Itsuki worked like a well-oiled machine. Rena and Yuuta worked like a duo of bad exes.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

But even in doubt, their natural talent shined through.

The timer was swiftly reaching its end, but their impromptu sandwich was quickly coming together quality wise. Yuuta returned to her, setting down the smaller Belgian waffles on a plate, and waiting for her to place the condiments atop of them. With their work all but done, Roma couldn't help but break a sweat a bit,

"Shit, Itsuki, we gotta hurry it up!" He called out to his pal, who could only shrug in response, "We're almost done too. Besides, it's not a race against them. Just make sure those patties are completely cooked, I'm not tanking my grade since you wanted to simp!"

"Oh, simp my ass!" Roma rolled his eyes in annoyance, but did take Itsuki's advice, checking the internal temperature of the sausage he had been cooking. With that dealt with, the blonde stood up, and headed to the dry storage, hurriedly grabbing the syrup to top off their dish.

But the symbolic sight of a toothpick sliding into Rena and Yuuta's breakfast dish left no doubt as to who had completed their task first. Yuuta looked towards his partner, nudging his head in the direction of the front of the classroom with his normal, stoic expression.

"Let's go."

Rena rolled her eyes, but lifted their plated product from off of the table, following Yuuta to the front of the class, muttering something under her breath, likely along the lines of wanting to kick his ass. She could tell that they were already the center of attention within the classroom again - a phenomena she was used to, but still didn't particularly care for. Regardless, she ignored it, and pressed forwards, both her and Yuuta stopping once they made it to the front, just before their instructor.

And the man couldn't help but smile at the duo as they stood in front of him. For once, none of his words, movements, or mannerisms were exaggerated. He spoke from a place of true humility.

"You don't understand how honored I feel to have two of the Top Ten students in the school, standing before me and presenting their dish."

Rena shuffled in place a bit, before crossing her arms over her chest, looking away from the teacher who was gawking for no good reason, "...I guess. It happens." Her response was flat. She just wished that he could hurry and eat their dish so that she could either relieve, or return to her original seat again.

Though, Roma stood in place. Something of interest had caught his ear, and he couldn't help but keep his eyes glued to the front, even as Itsuki returned, syrup in hand, "Wait…" The brunette began, blinking twice and staring at the duo, "Two of them?..."

"Forget it," Itsuki told him, quick to apply droplets of the sweet syrup onto their waffles while they were still warm, quickly taking up the plate afterwards, "Let's go before we get interrupted or something!"

Itsuki rushed Roma into taking care of their final tasks, but Rena and Yuuta stood attentively, awaiting their final verdicts. The instructor had already eaten about half of the sandwich provided within the 30 seconds of them standing up there, looking at them with a borderline creepy smile.

"This is easily going to be the best dish in the class, and above anything I've eaten all this month. I'm thankful for the work you two put in."

Following that, the plump man bent over, bowing humbly. The gesture made Yuuta huff a bit, sticking his hands into his pockets. His eyes reverted to their black, empty color, and without a word said, he turned to return to his seat.

That is, until he was shoulder-bumped by an Arthur Roma, accompanying Itsuki to the front of the classroom, with the blonde holding their own take on the dish. Suddenly, Yuuta stopped in place, standing within earshot of his instructor, and the two determined students.

And though she didn't make a big deal of it, Rena also stood still. She shot a glare at Yuuta for the hell of it, but was equally curious as to what her instructor thought of their work. After all, she hoped that he was impressed by their work… Just not as impressed as he was with her own.

"For two of the top rising stars in my classroom, it disappoints me that you've decided to copy your classmates' dish." It wasn't off to a good start. Rena couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty, but Yuuta didn't seem as sympathetic, continuing to listen in. The older chef spun the plate around, furrowing his brow in disgust towards the syrup atop the sandwich as well,

"And it's less visually appealing at that." His bluntness revealed something obvious - his doubting of Roma and Itsuki. Neither the brunette or the blonde took it personally however, with the former fighting off a smirk in regards to that remark.

Roma yearned for his instructor to take a bite, to indulge in his and Itsuki's creation. If he was so dissatisfied, he just knew he'd have another thing coming.

And then, he sunk his teeth in.. and his reaction, or rather lack of one, was slightly unsettling. After praising the last dish to the high heavens, his silence in regards to Roma's and Itsuki's work put them on edge, just a bit. After the bite - the single bite - he set the sandwich down, and placed the dish on his desk, right next to what remained of their rivals',

The man wiped his mouth, and let out a low exhale, "You've made this very difficult for me." Was all he said, and in an uncharacteristically low and distant tone at that, "Return to your seats. I need to come to terms with my disappointment."

Arthur's eyes widened, and he clenched his non-casted fist. He was shocked, absolutely bewildered, No… No way…

There was no way he fucked up something like this!..