Food Wars: The Heaven's Senses

Soma vs. Eishi Pt. 1

Soma and Eishi got to work, beginning to create their dishes to in their self-created Food War. Eishi quickly got to work, slicing what seemed to be back meat with perfect precision. He even cut up pieces of fat, making sure they were sliced into square cuts.

Hisako, who was watching through the window with Megumi and Erina, noticed exactly what Eishi was doing.

"He's using a Salamander to slowly cook the meat that he infused with salt and pepper." She said.

"He lined the bottom of that frying pan with cubed cuts of fat and muscle, so that the meat isn't directly touching the frying pan itself." Megumi added.

After a few short minutes in the oven, Eishi took out the meat and placed it on the stove to cover the top with the melted fat to prevent the meat from drying out. Soma watched with careful eyes.

"It's almost like watching my sister..." He thought to himself, but quickly dismissed the thought, as his sister would be laughing and teasing him with her skills. It only made him miss her even more.

"This is exactly what earned him a seat at the top." Erina said, "Right now, he's directly speaking to the ingredients." But as she watched Eishi as the meats swelled with the delicious juices that swirled inside it, Erina couldn't help but think that this kind of precision is what Hikari had to learn from her father.

A person with enhanced senses to give further criticism to others, her perfection back then being so much like Eishi. It made her scared for her old friend even more.

"His skills and sensibility have far exceeded the limits of any normal human. It's like he's a male version of Hikari. Eishi Tsukasa: The White Knight of the table." Erina said.

"Seriously? A male version of Hikari?" Megumi exclaimed, "Are his senses really that enhanced?"

"No, his skills are incredible, but if I had to bet against who would win in a Food War between the two.... I would place everything on Hikari."

"Why's that, Ms. Erina?"

"Because, unlike Eishi, Hikari puts her heart and soul into every dish she makes, just like Soma does. Eishi follows a recipe to perfection while Hikari makes things incredibly unpredictable while using the same recipe. Hikari would win, no doubt about it."

Megumi and Hisako were amazed by the praise Erina was giving the younger Yukihira twin. They had never heard Erina speak so highly about one person, and it seemed like it was a good change for her.

Soma continued to watch Eishi, not even having begun to start cooking his own dish.

"Shouldn't you start cooking right now, Soma?" Eishi asked, "As a member of Central, I can't afford to lose to the likes of a rebel first year. So I have trouble of not going easy on you."

"Hey, Chef Tsukasa." Soma said, "What exactly does Central want to accomplish here? And why did they need my sister in the first place?"

"Oh, uh... you should focus on your dish." Eishi dismissed.

"Is the goal really just to take control of the Academy and how it teaches? I mean, you're already an incredible chef placed at a high caliber. Even without Central, you would be massively successful in my opinion."

"No, no! You're giving me way too much credit, Soma." Eishi said with a slight blush of embarrassment before his expression turned serious once again, "But, you're right about one thing. Central's goal has to be truly realized, and that is to obliterate all of Japan's restaurants, pronto."

There was pin drop silence for a moment as Soma and their hidden audience were too stunned to speak.

"What....?" Soma finally broke the silence.

"Oh, don't misunderstand me. Any restaurant that serves legitimate cuisine will be left untouched. Director Azami put it like this, "we must eliminate any restaurant that serves horrid sludge that cannot be considered food. It is an absolute necessity if we wish for Japan's cuisine to truly reach the next level"." He went back to preparing his dish, "For that to happen, we must gather all the skilled chefs. In other words, we need to begin training our soldiers. The purge going through the academy right now, as well as the new classes and Ms. Yukihira's position in Director Azami's plan, are all intended to enable us to rid Japan of inferior restaurants."

"Inferior restaurants?" Soma repeated.

"That's right. By weeding out the plebian eateries that plague the area, it means that only those that offer true gourmet cuisine will be left standing. That is the future that Central is striving for."

"All the plebian eateries, you say? And by that you mean, places like Mitomoro western cuisine, or better yet, my own family's Yukihira Japanese Eatery." 

Soma's hands were shaking in anger and disgust. Did his sister know about this plan? Was she really working with them to achieve this goal? It was far too much for him to even try to comprehend, that his sister was being wormed into this disgusting plan.

"That's right, that's exactly what we mean." Eishi answered.

"You would do that, even if it meant tearing away a place that people hold close to their hearts?"

"I would. Absolutely. I think that would unavoidable."

With newfound determination, Soma declared that he would never join Central, and that his victory would be certain.

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

After resting for a time, Hikari got back to her station right outside Azami's office, going through all of the paperwork that had piled up since she collapsed. As she was going through the requests and details for Food Wars, Azami walked down the hall towards his office.

"Ms. Yukihira, what are you doing here?" He asked with that sinister smile of his, "I had heard that you had collapsed in your room hours ago from a terrible nosebleed. You should go back to your room and rest for the rest of the day."

"I would, but it was you who ordered me to go through all of these requests by the day's end. Besides, I'm already behind in almost everything because of the intense cooking classes you force me to take."

All of a sudden, Hikari felt a hand pulling her by the chin. She was now up close to Azami's smiling face.

"Are you questioning my kindness and generosity?" He asked, his tone dark and cold, "I could always retract our deal and honor my promise for what I can do to your brother at this school? I could easily direct all of my best chefs to fight him and expel him from the academy."

"Why not just do it without expending all of your best chefs? You can easily do it since you're the Director of the academy."

"Yes, I could just simply expel him from the Academy.... But where's the fun in doing that? I want to see that fool of a chef be broken in a battle, all while his beloved little sister watches and decides his fate based on my ideals."

Azami let Hikari go and opened the door to his office.

"If you wish for that not to happen, then I suggest you go back to your room and rest for a little while. I'll have someone else pick up your slack, but I want you back here at precisely six tomorrow morning. Do you understand, Ms. Yukihira?"

Hikari thought for a moment, her brother was in the balance of this deal, and she would do anything for her big brother. All she could was nod, her eyes slowly losing the shine that many people admired in her.

"Yes, Director. I understand perfectly." She answered in a dull, dead tone. 

"Very good. I shall see you tomorrow bright and early. Do be sure to get some good rest, I'll make sure to have a superb meal prepared for your dinner."

"Yes, Director." Hikari set down her pen and walked back to her room, but as soon as she walked into her room, her senses were overloaded with the smell of bleach from the place where her blood once stained.

Hikari ran through the room and out to the terrace where she could get fresh air away from the smell of bleach. She looked out at the school in the distance, wondering how her brother was doing along with the rest of her friends.

"Don't worry. This'll be over soon." She smiled to herself.