~currently playing~
^alter ego ~ vivid bad squad^

"The victor in the first match of the Autumn Elections is...Candidate Soma Yukihira!" Urara announces.

"Glad you liked it!" Soma exclaims.

"He won!"

"Woohoo!"

"Wahhh!" Alice cries.

"C'mon, don't cry like a kid just because you lost. Stand up." Soma says as he lends her a hand.

She takes his hand and glances away. "Thank-"

"Guess I'm now one step ahead of you in the fight to become one of the Elite Ten." he smirks.

"What?! Don't act all high and mighty just because you won!" she shouts.

She glares at him with a few tears still in her eyes. "Let me tell you, this isn't the last you'll see of me! I'm not going to let you have the top seat at Tōtsuki! Have a good day, Yukihira-kun!"

As she walks away from Soma, she meets Erina in the hallway.

"The limits of your strengths were made apparent." Erina spoke.

"What? What? What?! I guess you're a genius not only at cooking, but also at insults!" Alice shouts.

"You do realize you're complimenting my cooking, right?" Erina responds.

"Just wait till I get my revenge! Stupid Erina!" Alice insults.

"I envy you. You can just cry like that whenever you want." Erina says with a distant look.

'If only I could've reached out to pull Rin out of that darkness. Then maybe...maybe he could find it easier express his true self.' she frustratedly thought to herself.

...

"Soma-kun. I was watching from the waiting room. Congratulations!" Megumi claps.

"Thanks, Tadokoro. It's your turn, huh? You look pretty calm." Soma comments.

"Am I? I guess so! See, I could only think of trying my best in the prelims. But now, I'm hoping to enjoy my own cooking. It's the first time I've felt this way!" Megumi says.

"I see. Well, try not to get too tense. Good luck!" Soma holds up a thumbs up.

"Thanks!" she smiles.

...

Alice continues to walk down the hall and bumps into Ryo on the way.

"Your cooking's too pretty, as usual." he says.

"Are you trying to lecture me? Know your place!" she snaps.

"I believe I do know my place. Anyway, miss...you should save that line for when you beat me in cooking." he says as he walks away.

...

"Next is the second match in the first round! The candidates are coming in! Here is our dark horse candidate, Candidate Megumi Tadokoro, who passes the Block B preliminaries at the very last minute!" Urara exclaims.

"Good luck!"

"Her opponent is Candidate Ryo Kurokiba, who was tied with Candidate Soma Yukihira for second place in the Block A preliminaries! The theme...is ramen!" Urara states.

"Let the cooking begin!" Senzaemon shouts.

* the previous day *

"That concludes the general overview. One last thing: we'll provide the noodles. The match is tomorrow, after all. We made the noodles in advance to let them rest." Rin informs.

Isshiki shows them a chart of different type of noodles to choose from. "Choose which type of noodles you want before the day's end, and let us-"

Ryo interrupts him, "I'll choose this one from wide noodles."

"Are you sure that's your final choice?" Isshiki asks.

"It'll be fine. I already know what kind of ramen I'll be making." Ryo states as he walks away.

'He already figured that out just now?' Megumi thought.

"Don't disappoint then, Kurokiba-san. I have high expectations for the results of the match tomorrow." Rin says in a serious tone.

"Got it." Ryo says as he leaves.

Rin sighs, "Anyways, there's no need to rush, Tadokoro-san. You just need to tell us by midnight. And don't worry, I expect great results from you, as well."

"O-okay!" Megumi replied.

...

* in Polar Star's kitchen *

Megumi thinks, 'Since the organizers will prepare the noodles, maybe that means they want us to focus on the broth. The broth is constituted by its base, the stock, the concentrated sauce, also known as kaeshi, and various infused oils and spices. If those components fail to complement each other, the flavor will be fragmented. The noodles Kurokiba-kun selected have an oval cross-section with a notable elasticity. Wide noodles are typically paired with rich, strong flavors. Maybe that means Kurokiba-kun intends to make a very rich broth. To counter that, should I also make broth with an equally strong flavor?'

She rolls up her sleeves and exclaims, "First things first, I have to start testing!"

* a couple of failed attempts later *

'It's not good! When I try to make a rich broth, the flavors don't come together. What should I do?" she ponders.

Fumio comes in and places a package on the table. "Megumi! You have a package from your home."

"What?" Megumi questions and opens the package.

"Mom..." she smiles after reading the letter.

'Wow, all of this brings back memories...So many ingredients I used to cook with back home!' Megumi thought as she pulled out ingredients from the package.

* back in the present *

'I'll use the ingredients my mom sent me in the match!' Megumi thought determinedly.

"Umm...Huh?!" Soma blinked as he looked in the crowd.

"That spot's got a weird splashy vibe going on..." Soma deadpanned as he looked at Megumi's cheer squad.

"Oh, Yukihira, over here!" Yuuki waved.

"Why do they write names on fans, Nii-chan?" Isami asks.

"It's one of Japan's greatest mysteries." Takumi answered.

"Hmm...Ramen...It is a dish comprised of three components: noodles, toppings, and soup. You just keep the challenging topics coming year after year, don't you?" a judge says to Senzaemon.

Senzaemon hums, "Indeed. Ramen enjoyed an explosive popularity after the war, during the recovery period. The popularity was due to their affordable taste, and the ease of access, thanks to noodle carts."

'And now, ramen has become a Japanese cuisine that has gone global. There's limitless potential for the depth of flavor and amount of effort spent preparing it.' Erina thought.

"And we're asking contestants to perfect it all in a single night, on a big stage!" the judge says.

Senzaemon states, "In essence, what is being tested in this match is flexibility and explosive power! How well can they bring the experience and aptitude that they've nurtured thus far to bear on the topic at hand?"

"Ryo Kurokiba made seafood curry in the preliminaries. I wonder what he's making for the main tournament." Marui says.

"That broth is based on stock taken entirely from fish heads and bones!" Ikumi exclaims.

Ryoko lists, "Scorpionfish, conger eel, flounder, and red gurnard...So the ramen will have a seafood broth!"

"A-ha! All the strong flavors of fish guts and shrimp innards...It seems he has been able to avoid any fishiness thus far! Well done." a judge complimented.

'Like I thought, Kurokiba-kun is making a rich broth from seafood.' Megumi observed.

"Scallops! Megumi is using dried scallops to make her stock." Ryoko says.

'Add strained paitan soup to the stock...and simmer the broth!' Megumi thought.

"Wait, so Megumi's also making a seafood broth?" Yuuki questions.

"No, they may both be using seafood, but in contrast to Ryo Kurokiba's rich broth, Tadokoro-san chose a light broth!" Marui states.

"But can her broth compete against the impact of Kurokiba's rich broth?" Takumi questioned.

"Of course it can! Megumi's hometown is a harbor town! She's his equal in terms of seafood knowledge!" Yuuki answers.

Someone giggles from behind them. "Very interesting. So it's two people who grew up in harbor towns against each other."

"Right, a fishing port...What?!" Yuuki exclaims as she looks behind her.

"Alice Nakiri?!" Ikumi shouts.

"Wh-why are you here?!" Yuuki questions.

"Huh? Am I not allowed?" Alice replied playfully.

"You said they're both from harbor towns?" Soma inquired.

"That's right! Ryo-kun grew up next to the sea." Alice answers.

"A huge pile of lobster and sweet shrimp shells? Is he going to use them for stock, too?" Ikumi quesitons.

Ryo then began to aggressively crush the shells.

"What the hell?!"

"He's crushing the shells into powder!"

"Ryo-kun has been the head chef since he was very young. That's the kind of chef he is." Alice states.

"M-Megumi's the same way! She has the experience of helping out in her kitchen back home, too! Megumi! Don't let any of this get to you! We've got your back!" Yuuki cheers.

Ryo grunts, "What the hell's that?"

"O-Oh, they're friends from my dorm..." Megumi replied.

He glares, "I don't like this at all. I feel sick to my stomach whenever I see a bunch of chefs palling around! Chefs are all about winning or being beaten. There can be nothing else!"

"Are you...sure about that?" she hesitantly asked.

"What?" he questions.

"Isn't important for people to work together in cooking, too?" she says.

"The kitchen is a battlefield. Cooking is about power! You wouldn't understand because you were sheltered as a kid. All your cooking needs to do is to bring your opponents to their knees. That's it. People who don't get that can only make food with weak flavor! Get that through your thick skull! The cooking the rest of you been doing is just trash—a game of pretend." he sinisterly states.

"You're wrong. What I...At least, what I've encountered is...nothing like trash!" she exclaims as she stops her timer and gets to work.

She calmly works around her station. 'The vegetables have been parboiled. Mix two types of soy sauce together, then keep the temperature around 80 degrees Celsius to preserve the flavor. All right!'

"Good, she's staying calm." Shun comments.

"Yup. She's getting each task done without wasting any time." Soma says.

'What determines ramen's flavor is the stock. There can be no cloudiness in the light broth she chose for her dish.' Rin thought as Megumi removed the lid from her pot.

"Beautiful. It shines, and it is crystal clear." Senzaemon states as everyone gasps in awe.

"Don't say bad things about the people who have...encouraged me!" Megumi exclaims as Ryo glares at her.

"That was just me...trying to say something..." she trembles.

"Okay, it's close to the time limit! Who will finish first?" Urara wonders.

"All right!" Megumi smiles after tasting her broth.

"Whoa, what?"

"Look at the judges..."

"What's about to start?"

"Eh, watching the chef work at the counter in a ramen shop is one of the pleasures of ramen." a judges says.

"C-Cooking right in front of the Devil of Food?" Marui stutters.

Yuuki angrily clenches her fist and yells, "Hey! Don't pressure Megumi!"

"Don't worry. She's staying calm." Ryoko reassured.

A judge looks at the broth, "It's even more beautiful and fragrant up close!"

"The toppings seem to be mostly vegetables. This looks promising." another judge says.

"I think things are going her way." Shun says.

"Yeah. " Ryoko nods.

"Okay, Megumi! Barrel right along to a win!" Yuuki cheers.

However, Ryo makes his presence known once again by loudly shaking the water out from his noodles.

"That's right. That's Ryo-kun right there." Alice grins.

"Candidate Kurokiba seems to have finished first!" Urara announces.

"Hey, what it that?"

"What's on top?"

"Wait a minute...is that rusk?"

"Go on, dig in. It's Soupe de Poisson Ramen!" Ryo pushes the dish towards the judges.

"Soupe de Poisson...It's a southern French soup based on stock made from fish heads, bones, and shells of shellfish." a judge states.

"He adapted it into ramen? First...let's try the soup." another judge says.

The judge drops his spoon due to the intense flavor of the soup. 'The innards of shrimp and fish form a rich, cohesive taste...What ferocious flavor! Allow me to tangle these noodles into the soup and try them!'

'Oh god! It's making me feel faint! The umami is so violent!' the judge thought.

"The toppings consist of three types of cheese, rouille made from aioli sauce with added chili peppers, and tempura batter bits acting as crouton stand-ins!" another judge states.

"And there's the rusk we saw earlier! It's been smeared with Echire butter, then toasted golden brown." a judge says.

After biting the rusk the judges' eyes widen in realization. 'I see! He was crushing dried shells containing concentrated flavor!'

"So you've finally realized what's going on. That crushed powder is everywhere in this ramen, from the soup stock to the butter on the rusk!" Ryo states.

Alice explains, "The umami factors in shrimp are glycine, algine, and proline. Crustaceans have the highest concentrations of those factors among all seafood. He pulverized shells containing all that umami and used the powder directly in the dish, so of course the result is incredibly delicious."

'I see. It's so flavorful that it's almost violently so. For this man, having others eat his food...is like an all-out fistfight. He's spent his whole life making everyone concede defeat.' Senzaemon thought as he suddenly went bare-chested.

"He went bare-chested without posing!" a judge exclaims.

"This is a rare occurrence!" another judge adds.

"You've got some balls forcing me to go bare-chested, I'll give you that." Senzaemon says.

Yuuki looks around the crowd as they all cheer. "Megumi's about to get her dish evaluated, but the crowd's just so..."

Takumi comments, "Kurokiba wasn't just shaking water out of his noodles earlier. The crowd's heightening interest toward Tadokoro's dish, curiosity, and the shift in mood..."

"He shook all that off, too." Isami finishes.

"Megumi can't be having an easy time in all this." Ryoko says.

Soma disagrees, "No, not so fast."

"Imagine that you're separating the noodles from the strainer, and severing the surface tension..." Megumi mumbles to