The sun was setting at the end of the day at Totsuki Academy, and two brand new students were hiking up one of the many paths towards their new dormitory. The Yukihira twins hiked up the path trying to find their rightful dormitory, but were having some issues.

"Kyokusei dormitory." Soma rad off the paper, "Where the heck is this place? The sun's going down."

"Maybe if you would let me look at the map, we wouldn't be lost now would we?" Hikari said in spite.

"No way, sis, your eyes haven't adjusted to the lighting yet. You could get us even more lost." Soma shot back, knowing that his sister's eyes were slow to adjusting to sunlight near dusk. However, what the twins didn't notice was that a piece of vital information had just flown out of Soma's hand.

They looked around at the many other dormitories and buildings around and saw that they were all high class and very fancy.

"Wow, and thought the rich kid's attitudes were stuck up. Just look at all the dorms around here." Hikari grumbled.

"Yeah, I wonder what they could all be for?" Soma wondered aloud, agreeing with his little sister, "Maybe our dorm will be a fancy schmancy, too."

"I actually hope not. I don't want to stay with a bunch of pompous rich kids." Hikari grumbled.

The twins kept walking and walking until they finally reached their dorm, and it was just what Hikari wanted.

It was a large mansion, but it looked a little worn down. Ivy and vines were growing on the sides of the building, the fence and gates were rusty and old, and even crows were screeching about in the air. Hikari saw this as a blessing, while Soma thought it was the worst.

"Guess I was wrong." Soma muttered.

"This place looks awesome!" Hikari exclaimed, "It looks just like the mansion in my favorite horror film!"

"I thought you would've grown out of that phase."

"You never grow out of a horror movie phase. You're just too squeamish to watch them with me on Friday the 13th. Now c'mon, let's go inside."

Hikari grabbed her brother's hand and raced to the large front doors to enter. They opened the doors and walked inside the large mansion, standing near the entrance and looking around. All of a sudden, a door exploded open with a massive amount of smoke pouring out of it, followed by a loud crash that shook the entire mansion.

"An earthquake?" Soma wondered.

Hikari took a deep breath in and smelled smoke beef.

"No, I think someone's smoking beef upstairs." Hikari sniffed again, "And I'm also smelling rabbits, ducks and deer."

Just then, running from the other side of the entrance was a red haired girl chasing a crowd of wild animals.

"Usako! Kamosuke! Shikanoshin! Stop! Stop running, please!" She shouted chasing after the animals.

"Hey! Room no. 116!" A voice shouted from above the twins, "You cannot bring wild game into the dorms! If you do that again I will skin you alive I swear! Oh, and room no. 208, you turned an empty room into a smoker room again, didn't you? Oh, how about I hang you outside and smoke you! How would you like that?! And you, room no. 205, if you've trashed your room again I'll gut you and feed you to the hogs!"

"I think I'm gonna like this place." Hikari said to herself. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind them.

"You two are the new transfer students Soma Yukihira and Hikari Yukihira, right?" The same voice that was chastising the other people inside the form spoke. The twins turned around and saw an old woman wearing a headband and an apron.

"I am the dorm mother for this establishment, Fumio, or Ms. Daimidou or the holy mother of Kyoksukei. You can call me that."

Soma grimaced upon seeing the dorm mother while his twin sister seemed delighted in meeting Ms. Fumiyo.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Fumiyo. I'm Hikari Yukihira and this is my brother Soma. Glad to be here." She introduced her self.

Ms. Fumiyo smiled at the energy the younger Yukihira girl showed.

"Well, at least someone has some respect in this school. Now, what ingredients have you prepared?"

"Huh? Ingredients for what?" Soma asked, surprising both Ms. Fumio and his twin sister.

"What else?" Ms. Fumio said, "For the famous Kyokusei entrance exam of course."

"It was all in the paper, Soma. Surely you read the requirements. Isn't that why you brought the charcoal grill, so you could at carry some ingredients in it?" Hikari asked.

"The girl is right. Residency will only be granted to those who create a dish in which its flavors are acceptable. And the judging will be done by the dorm's supervisor. Finally, the residents are allowed to bring any ingredients they wish."

"How was I supposed to know that? I didn't bring any ingredients with me. And Hikari, why didn't you tell me about this exam thing?" Soma shouted.

"You said that you read everything. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and assumed that you prepared for it. Guess I was wrong once again." Hikari said shrugging her shoulders.

"If you have nothing to offer, then you've lost by default." Ms. Fumio said with a smirk, "Unless you can show what you can do, then you've got no place here."

"So, what about tonight?" Soma asked.

"The two of you will be sleeping outside."

"You've gotta be kidding me! Don't you know how cold it gets out there in April?" Soma complained.

"Ms. Fumio, since this place is a dorm, surely there must be at least some ingredients lying around here. Maybe we could use those for our entrance exam." Hikari suggested.

Ms. Fumio hummed in thought, her mind already accepting that she actually like this girl. She was quick on her feet, took everything she said into considering the solution to her and her brother's predicament, and was very respectful and polite. Perhaps she would give the twins a chance.

"Well, there are some leftovers in the kitchen, but it's a mish mash. I highly doubt you can really make anything the scraps that we've got." Ms. Fumio said.

Suddenly, Soma perked up when she said leftovers. Hikari turned to her brother and smiled, reigniting his cooking fury.

"I think my sister is right yet again. Show us to the kitchen." Soma said.

Ms. Fumio, now even more curious about these two, showed them to the large dorm kitchen. She turned on the lights and the twins stood in awe at the amazing kitchen they had.

"Oh my god!" Soma exclaimed, "I didn't expect a kitchen like this."

"This is incredible." Hikari added.

"If there's one thing I hate it's cocky kids with inflated egos." Ms. Fumio said, "You have no idea how many student's dishes I've tasted in my life. Do you two really think you'll impress me with some slop you just throw together?"

"Watch and learn, Ms. Fumio." Hikari said following brother to look around the room.

"Hikari, we've got all sorts of spices over here."

"I'm seeing all kinds of vegetables, bread crumbs, rice and plenty of different kinds of spices." Hikari said.

Soma opened the fridge and saw some eggs sitting inside.

"I got eggs, sis. This should be enough to make something." He said, taking off his headband and tying it around his forehead.

"Ms. Fumio Daimidou, Kyokusei dorm mother..." Soma started, "Just give me a few minutes. I'm going first, okay sis?"

"No problem big brother." Hikari answered.

Soma took out his knives and gathered up all the ingredients he would need, knowing exactly what to make with what he had.

He diced the onions, cracked the eggs, mixed the meat, and cooked the rice. Finally, after a few minutes, Soma presented a delicious looking hamburger steak.

"We've only had possibly a few scraps of meat just lying around." Ms. Fumio said, "How did you two make such a thick hamburger steak?"

Soma chuckled, "I used some of your canned mackerel to make a mackerel burger!" He said.

"Canned Mackerel?" Ms. Fumio exclaimed in her shock.

"I added onions and bread crumbs to the egg then mixed it in with the canned mackerel, then added pepper and lightly salted it." Soma explained, "I fried it up to create a flaky and delicious mackerel patty. The I added ponzu to the leftover mackerel juices with some corn starch to make it thick, making a refreshing sauce. Given the time frame, I call this dish Yukihira Style: Use what you've got. Holy mackerel burger!"

Ms. Fumio sat down in front of the small meal and looked down at it in awe and wonder.

"Impossible, a hamburger steak made out of canned mackerel?" She said, using her chopsticks to take a bite, "This should be horrendous and inedible."

However, as soon as Ms. Fumio took that first bite, her old bones were shaking with shockwaves of deliciousness. Her face turned red with pleasure, her mouth drooling as she craved more. She took a sip of the egg soup and gasped when she tasted so much flavor form just the simple broth.

"Where is all this flavor coming from?" She asked then turned towards Soma, "Hey boy, how on earth did you make this? We have no seaweed or fish flakes. Nothing that could've been used to create a fish stock."

"Well, actually, I happened to have something on hand." Soma said, flicking the small squid tentacle he had been eating earlier before they arrived at the dorm.

"Squid?! You mean you used that thing to make your stock?"

Hikari chuckled, "Nice one, Soma. Dried squid is pure umami. You soaked the squid in some boiling water and added salt to create a thick soup stock. Good going."

Ms. Fumio smiled and set down her chopsticks, "Soma Yukihira... you have passed. Your room number is 303. Welcome to Kyokusei." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small key with the number 303 before giving it to Soma.

"You are welcome." Soma said taking off his headband and cleaning off his knives before putting them back in their case, "Sis, I'll be going up to my room. I'll meet you up there?"

"You bet. See ya soon, Soma." Hikari replied waving goodbye to her brother as he left.

"So, Hikari Yukihira, what do you have planned to serve?" Ms. Fumio asked.

Hikari closed her eyes and took in a deep breath through her nose, smiling when she smelled exactly what she needed.

"I think I've got it." She said, taking her headband from her wrist and tying her hair back up into a ponytail, "Just give me exactly ten minutes."

Immediately Hikari began cooking, taking some of the leftover mackerel her brother had left. She grabbed some ginger, carrots, the rest of the eggs, salt and pepper.

Ms. Fumio watched in awe as Hikari chopped the carrots with great precision and skill, making them small enough to cook with. She watched the young girl chop, boil, grate and cook to the best of her abilities. It impressed the dorm mother, as she had seen many students come to this dorm, but none of them had her kind of skill. It was as if she was one with the cooking world itself. All of her senses were on high alert, taking in everything the environment had to offer.

Finally, after exactly ten minutes, Hikari served up a strange dish. It looked like an omelet with carrots, no signs of any of the mackerel she had before.

"Here you are, a mackerel omelet. I do hope you enjoy." Hikari said, smiling happily.

Ms. Fumio took her chopsticks and took a small bite of the omelet. Without even a second thought, her went in for another bite... and another... and another. In less that a couple of minutes, the entire omelet was gone.

"What a wonderful omelet, I tasted the mackerel as it mixed with the sweetness of the carrots and the egg." Ms. Fumio said in delight, "Tell me, how did you make this?"

Hikari smiled, "I first grated the ginger to help with the fishy smell. I chopped the carrots into small bite sized pieces. I beat the eggs in a separate bowl and seasoned with salt and pepper, tasting the mackerel to make sure I would use just enough salt without too much conflict with the other flavors. I added the canned mackerel, carrots, and ginger to the egg mixture. I added oil to a warmed up frying pan and poured the egg mixture into it. I covered the pan and cooked it for exactly three minutes and fifty-eight seconds for optimal browning of the egg. I then folded it in half and cooked it again. I call it Yukihira Style: Mackerel Omelet."

Ms. Fumio couldn't believe her ears. This girl had a grasp of time that no one she had ever seen had before. She worked quickly in the exact time she said she would finish in, and created something incredible. This dish flooded all of Ms. Fumio's senses so much that she had hardly even noticed she had finished the omelet until it was already gone.

This girl was unlike anything Ms. Fumio had seen before. And she just had to see where she would go.

"Hikari Yukihira... You have passed the Kyokusei entrance exam." Ms. Fumio said, digging into her pocket and pulling out a key with the number 304 on the tag, "Your room number is 304. Welcome to Kyokusei."

Hikari smiled and pulled out her headband, letting her long red hair flow down her back, "You're welcome!"

As Hikari was cleaning her knives and putting them away, Ms. Fumio noticed something strange about them. On the handles of each knife was a name inscribed in fancy gold writing. 

'Soma Yukihira' it read.

This confused the dorm mother, so she just had to ask, "Why do is your brother's name on your knives?"

Hikari looked back at the dorm mother and then at her knives, remembering the day she and her brother exchanged them.

"It's kind of a physical representation of out twin bond." Hikari answered, "When we got our knives, our parents had our names inscribed onto the handles. But we thought it would be funny to exchange our knives, so that even if we were far apart, we'd have a piece of each other to stay by our sides. It never really left us." Hikari closed her knife case and left the kitchen to find her room.

It was the next step in becoming an even greater chef. And neither twin could contain their excitement for the future skills they would learn and the challenges they would face.