~currently playing~
^lost one's weeping ~ leo/need^

"Anyone who can't complete their dishes in an hour will be summarily expelled."

"It just won't end!"

"Sure enough, this is a lot..."

"Fifty servings!"

"Sorry for the wait." Megumi says while serving her food.

"That sure took a while, girl!"

"Whoa! This is delish!"

"I can still eat more!"

'I'm glad they're all eating so much.' Megumi thought happily.

"This has just the right amount of fat!"

"And the rice is nice and fluffy!"

"Delish, delish!"

"Delish, delish!"

"Keep bringin' it out!"

'Okay! I've gotta work harder!' Megumi thought determinedly.

* scene change : with Rin *

Rin was happily humming while walking out of the public bath. He had felt so relaxed at the moment. It was as if he was in his own little world. As he approaches the corner someone bumps into him, causing him to fall.

"Sorry." the person apologized.

"I-Itai... It's fine. I wasn't really paying attention either-Oh! S-Soma Yukihira!" Rin blushes in embarrassment.

"You okay, Rin? You didn't twist anything?" Soma asks concernedly while offering his hand.

"I-I'm fine." Rin stuttered as he was about to grab his hand but then a loud shout interrupts them.

Erina comes in the scene fuming, "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! DON'T TOUCH RIN! Here, are you okay Rin?"

Rin gets up by grabbing Erina's hand, "Yes, I'm fine. He bumped into me accidentally. It's not that big of a deal."

'What a blunder. I let Rin go ahead on his own, thinking we were by ourselves. And it had to be HIM of all people.' Erina thought angrily.

'Don't tell me he overheard me.' Rin thought.

"By the way, I heard you humming. You're in a pretty good mood, huh?" Soma says to Rin.

"Humming? I have no recollection of that." Rin denies while looking to the side to hide his blushing face.

'He DID overhear me!" Rin thought in embarrassment.

"Still, I understand why you both would feel festive. We're at a hot spring and we're staying overnight. I even brought cards for playing hanafuda and poker." Soma says.

Note: Hanafuda is a Japanese card game using palm-sized cards with animal and flower prints on them.

'We're not feeling festive!' Erina angrily thought.

'This is so embarrassing.' Rin thought.

"Don't think you are the same as us! It seems they call this the "training camp from Hell," but to us it's just a tedious, empty ceremony. Still, I do wonder how long it'll take you to fail. Watching that could be mildly entertaining." Erina smirks.

"That's some talk... for someone who was just frantically checking if her brother had any injuries." Soma retorts.

"HUH?! What's wrong with checking if my brother was in pain or not?!" Erina yells back.

"Erina-sama! Rin-sama! I'm sorry I'm late! That took a little time- S-Soma Yukihira! What are you doing here, bastard?!" Hisako angrily points at him.

"Well, I pushed Rin on the floor a minute ago." Soma causally answered.

"Wha... HUH?!" Hisako yells, getting the wrong idea.

Rin is now too stunned to speak and turns into a tomato.

"Don't say things that give the wrong idea!" Erina frantically waves her hand up and down.

"There's nothing wrong about it. It was totally like, BOING." Soma says while opening and closing his hand.

Note: Soma uses a sound effect to express that Rin bounced off him.

"BOING?!" Erina and Hisako yell.

Rin snaps out of his daze, "Y-you guys got it wrong!"

"Look, just hurry up and go away!" Erina yells at Soma.

"All right, fine. Hot bath, hot bath! Splash, splash!" Soma sings while walking away.

"Um, are you really all right? Hisako asks.

"No problem." Erina and Rin respond.

"You need to get in the bath as well." Erina says.

"Oh, and I got these from the front desk. Playing cards!" Hisako happily presented.

"I don't do such frivolous things!" Erina shouts and turns away.

"Um... Huh? But earlier..." Hisako mentions.

* flashback to earlier that day *

"Say, Rin, Hisako, I wonder if they have playing cards here." Erina says.

"Huh?" Hisako questions.

"Playing cards." Erina repeated.

"You want to play cards?" Rin asks.

"It only takes three people, right?" Erina asked.

"Yes, you're right. I'll ask the front desk."  Hinako says which makes Erina's eyes sparkle.

* back to the present *

"...is what you said." Hinako says.

"I said no such thing." Erina says stubbornly.

"Sure you didn't." Rin said playfully.

"Um, is something the matter?" Hinako asked concernedly.

"Nothing at all!" Erina yelled.

*with Soma*

"Jeez, I swear. What's with that girl? As always, I just don't get her! At least Rin made an effort to actually hold a conversation with me, and he actually looked pretty cute when blushing like that...Well, whatever. I'm gonna take a long soak in the bath. The first soak is mine!" Soma exclaims and slides open the door to the bath to see... err... Gin Dojima stretching.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Gin groans.

"Wh-wha..." Soma says, stunned.

"The next one's already here? My apologies. Stretching out in the bath is part of my daily routine." Gin apologies.

In that instant, Soma had this thought:

"Scary!"

Quite unusual for him. But it only lasted a moment.

Soma is now seen laughing with Gin, "Aw, man, I was all happy thinking I'd be the first one in the bath. What a bummer!"

"Sorry about that. Still, you're one of the first among the students, so be satisfied with that. We've produced talented students both this year and last, huh?" Gin said.

"Last year?" Soma questions.

"The 50-serving challenge is held in different kitchens simultaneously. It's clear to see who'll be the first to finish. Every year, I'm sure to get out of the bath before the students come, but last year, there was another who came here having finished up quickly. He's the current No. 7 chair on the Tōtsuki's Council of Ten." Gin states.

'It was someone I know?!' Soma thought bewilderedly.

"He was quite a tough character as well." Gin comments.

'That's Isshiki-senpai all right. Huh? Hold on. That means... THEY made their 50 servings faster than me?' Soma thought back to his interaction with the Nakiri twins earlier.

"Clearing the challenge fast isn't everything, but it definitely showcases your skill. Erina Nakiri... Granddaughter of the director of Tōtsuki Academy. The "God Tongue." She's driven the Academy's top instructors since she was a baby. She would eat only the most refined baby foods. As a child, she tasted multiple varieties of salt while blindfolded... and identified all their production areas. There's no end to the stories that prove why she's been called the God Tongue. And then we have her twin brother, Rin Nakiri... Grandson of the director of Tōtsuki Academy. The "Prince of Culinary." Although he was not blessed with something like the God Tongue, that did not stop him from pursuing to become the amazing chef he is today. Since he could walk, he learned all there is to know about the culinary world and refined it to apply to his own arsenal of cooking. He was one of the only chefs who'd been able to satisfy Erina's palate without breaking a sweat. He defeated countless of high-class chefs who were more than doubled his age. There's also no end to the amount of stories that prove why he's been granted such a grand title of the Prince of Culinary. Still, the fact they became the youngest members of the Ten shows that their talents are backed up by genuine skill. And to the point that Tōtsuki made an entirely new seat of higher power is truly remarkable. If all goes well, they'll become monsters, the greatest masterpieces in Tōtsuki Academy's history. Still, in any case, they're still just "raw material." An inhuman, demonic realm where those of talent are gathered only to eat one another... That's Tōtsuki. It's a long way down at this academy. Sharpen your fangs, young man!" Gin advises.

"Sir!" Soma salutes.

Takumi slides the door open, "Yukihira, you beat me this round, but next time will be a different- Ch-Chef Gin Dojima!"

"Well, I've been here long enough. I should get going. In any case, your stay here has only just started. You need to take good care of your body. Do your best tomorrow, too." Gin shakes Soma's hand.

"Thanks, Dojima-senpai." Soma says.

Takumi ran towards Soma and exclaims, "Do you know who that was?!"

"Yup, Dojima-senpai, right?" Soma replied.

"Yes, but... No that's not it! What're you doing just happily shaking his hand, Yukihira?!" Takumi yells while doing shaking hands gestures.

'Yukihira? I've heard that name somewhere...' Gin thought as he leaves.

* on the girl's side of the bath *

"Man, I'm SO tired after that 50-course challenge! I'm glad we all made it, though." Yuuki says relieved.

"This will go on for another four days, huh? They weren't kidding about training camp of Hell." Ryoko says.

"Still, now that we're in the bath, it kinda makes you want to try hard again, right?" Megumi commented.

"You brought that with you?" Ryoko says while looking at the rubber ducky.

Megumi giggles, "Well, I thought I'd let him go on a trip, too."

"In any case..." Yuuki starts while looking at Ryoko's... umm... chest...

"Wh-what?" Ryoko asks.

"You're as grandiose as ever, aren't you? Well, Lord Sakaki?" Yuuki teased.

"Maybe all that malted rice has had an effect." Megumi joins.

"You too, Megumi? Don't stare like that!" Ryoko says but was interrupted by the rubber duck moving in between her...

"Oh! He IS on a trip." Yuuki says.

"I swear, you little devil." Ryoko says and pokes the duck.

Yuuki abruptly stands up, "Now then! What do you say we get going? Back to our room that normally costs over $800 a night!"

Walking into their room Yuuki began to stared dreamily at it and jumps onto the bed.

"Megumi, why don't you lie down on it, too?" Ryoko suggested.

"This is so upscale, it's like fate would punish me if I did!" Megumi says.

"Luxurious... Top-quality..." Yuuki blabbers.

"Yuuki, that's undignified. I know you're happy, but still." Ryoko scolded.

"Um, hey..." a skeleton-looking Marui greets.

"Oh, Marui-kun, have you gotten a little skinnier?" Ryoko asks.

"Have I? Then please listen to the skinnier me. Let's just call it a night and rest up for tomorrow." Marui requests.

"Yo, yo! We're here!"

"Let's have fun!"

Soma, Daigo, Shoji, and Shun walk into the room.

"Why do you always get together in MY room?!" Marui angrily shouts.

"All right! What're we doing? What're we doing?!" Yuuki excitedly asked.

"A 100-round game of Rich Man, Poor Man!" Daigo and Shoji exclaims while holding up Marui.

Note: A Japanese card game using a Western deck.

"A-all right, it's on!" Marui exclaims

* approximately 3 minutes later *

"2 minutes, 51 seconds?" Shun says.

"Their tiredness caught up to them all at once, huh?" Ryoko commented.

"Well, I guess we'll leave them till it's time for lights out." Shun states.

"You're not tired yet, Megumi? That's unusual. You always go to bed early." Ryoko says.

"It is strange, huh? I'm tired, but I'm not sleepy." Megumi replies.

"Well, it was a pretty stressful day, right?" Soma says while juggling paper cups.

"Yes, but I don't think that's all. I'm always so nervous in our lessons... If I mess something up, I get so worried about what I should do. But today, you were there to support me, Soma-kun. I feel like I've gotten a little... just a little more confident. It's making my heart pound. Uh, but hold on! It's 'cause Soma told me what I should do. I ain't tryin' to put on airs!" Megumi says while frantically waving her arms back and forth.

"You got