Normally, finishing a dish in two hours would be very tight. In such an important competition, if you just put out any old dish, the result would definitely be nothing special. For a pro chef, two hours just wouldn't feel like enough.
This unplanned cooking event really tested the chef's control of time, because it was unplanned. They basically hadn't prepped anything, and could only rely on the knowledge they'd built up in their heads and the basic skills they practiced every day. Other than that, the two were starting from the same place.
Since it was unplanned cooking, Hachiman had already thought about the time and thought about a dish he could bring out in the final, which shouldn't be a problem in less than ten minutes.
Since the theme was 'tea,' Hachiman quickly thought of tea dishes his dad and Takumi had made. While they could be considered great in some ways, it still felt lacking for this stage, the finals.
Ten minutes passed quickly. Hachiman soon had a new idea. Trying a new dish in this kind of situation didn't really fit his personality, but it was an improvement on his dad's dish, so the quality should be fine.
Next...
Hachiman gently touched the smart screen on the stove. In less than five seconds, a really smart robot came to him and brought him the ingredients he needed.
First, soybeans were ground into powder using a grinder. Then, he used brewed green tea to wash the powder a little. He used the tea water made with green leaves as an ingredient in the powder and started cooking.
This dish, called Green Tea Tofu Duck, was a bright idea that Hikigaya came up with by combining his dad Joichiro's and Takumi's best skills. The key was to keep the soybeans stable during the cooking and add the right amount of green tea.
Every step was very careful. If anything went wrong, the final dish might be awful. The process was also shockingly complex.
Seeing Hikigaya start to cook, the group from Polar Star Dorm seemed relieved. Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"He's finally starting..."
Alice, on the other hand, said a bit unwillingly:
"He's trying such a hard dish in a competition again..."
Kurokiba: "That's Hikigaya's charm, right, Miss..."
Alice: "Dumbass, I know."
Tadokoro Megumi: "As long as the next steps don't have any problems, then no matter what the result, Hachiman will have tried his best in this cooking battle."
Yoshino: "Hey, Megumi, you can't spoil him like that. As a chef, you have to give everything you've got at all times!"
Tadokoro Megumi: "But, I don't want to see Hikigaya-kun like last time again..."
Ibusaki: "Well, this is fine."
Shiomi Jun: "Yukinoshita... what's wrong?"
Hayama Akira: "I noticed just now, her condition seems totally different from usual."
Yui: "Yukino, her face looks really bad."
It wasn't just the people at Polar Star Dorm. Everyone in the audience noticed Yukinoshita's weird condition. Her hands were shaking nonstop, and her expression was unusually shaken.
Erina: "Is she okay..."
Hisako: "Looks like she's having a hard time..."
Erina: "This isn't the kind of mistake Yukinoshita would make. Either way, she should know that two hours is a really short time. If she doesn't start now..."
At the same time, Hinako, who was sitting on the judging panel, quickly looked worried:
"Miss Haruno, is Yukino really okay like that?"
Everyone noticed Yukino's unusual state. It was even a question of whether she could continue the competition, but... Haruno didn't look worried at all. She even kept smiling and said:
"Huh? When did Hinako-senpai get so kind? Don't worry, Yukino will be fine."
Shinomiya: "If you, her older sister, say so..."
He didn't say anything more. The competition continued, but... even Hachiman noticed that Yukino behind him had retreated into her own world.
'She wants me to win this match, is that what she's doing?'
'I don't get it... but even though I don't get it, a win like this is no different from charity.'
Thinking this, Hachiman gently turned off the stove fire, leaving the audience totally confused.
"What's wrong with Hikigaya again? Is this really the finals? How could such a basic mistake happen?"
"No, I don't think so. He looks like he's doing it on purpose..."
"On purpose? What's he doing? If he turns off the fire now, all the previous work is wasted. Half an hour has already passed... that means they've wasted half an hour."
"Who knows..."
Hisako also covered her mouth with a file in surprise and just said in disbelief:
"Hikigaya-kun's movements... have also stopped..."
"What happened?"
Erina: "What do these two think the finals are..."
As both of them stopped moving at the same time, murmurs started in the audience. Most of the audience was very unhappy with the two of them. After all, many cooking fans from other countries had gathered here, but they were still somewhat disappointed to see this scene.
As the murmurs grew louder, some people started to wonder if the two were throwing the game. The director and Dojima Gin heard all of this.
Dojima Gin: "Director, is it really okay to let things go on like this?"
The director shook his head, looking very calm, as if everything was still under control.
As time passed, half an hour had already gone by, and Yukinoshita's condition didn't seem to have improved at all. She was just panting occasionally and putting her right hand on her left arm, with none of her usual calm and strength.
Now, Hachiman could only sigh softly. Then, as everyone watched, he slowly walked behind her and gently patted her shoulder.
She didn't react at all. Hachiman could only say:
"Yukinoshita, what's wrong?"
"I... I..."
"It's not polite to not look at people when you're talking. You said that yourself, Yukinoshita."
Hearing Hachiman's gentle words, Yukinoshita slowly turned her body around with her head down. But the closer they got, the more Hachiman could feel Yukinoshita's invisible pressure, which was constantly crushing her spirit.
She still didn't show any signs of speaking. Hachiman could only keep asking:
"Yukinoshita, I'm your partner, right?"
Yukinoshita didn't speak, just nodded gently like a good little cat.
"I remember what you asked me to do. It was a promise to really beat you in the finals, right?"
Yukinoshita nodded obediently again, just clenching her teeth, but still said nothing.
"You know, I really hate charity. If the promise you're talking about is this without any resistance, then... I'll just drop out of this competition..."
"Anyway, if you hadn't dropped out of that match back then, I probably wouldn't have had the stamina for the overtime match, and I wouldn't have made it to this stage. So... everything is so natural."
"Is that okay?"
Hearing Hikigaya say that he was going to give up, Yukinoshita suddenly looked up, her face full of pain. She couldn't see any strength in her now. She was no different from a normal girl, desperately begging for something as she broke down.
"No... don't..."
"I don't want this... but I've been following in my sister's footsteps for so long that I can't make a decent dish anymore."
"No matter what dish I make, it's just a copy of my sister's past dishes. No matter how hard I try, I can't surpass her. Eventually, I'll just be labeled as useless..."
"I'm... helpless."
Hearing Yukinoshita say what she really thought for the first time, Hachiman finally understood her difficulties all along.
A breakdown isn't something that happens in an instant. It's caused by constant pressure. With such a great older sister, Yukinoshita had used all her strength just to keep up.
Even if that didn't matter, what was worse was that when she tried to make her sister's dishes, everyone praised her, but only she knew that the praise wasn't for her. She was just a thief, a shameless taker, who selfishly took that honor and ended up in this situation.
She wanted to deny herself, to deny the path she had been on, so she sought failure, but unknowingly, she came to this stage.
But only she knew in her heart that she had never relied on herself to get here. It was just because of the Yukinoshita family's power, or rather, because of her great older sister.
So, Haruno's arrival only sped up everything.
Originally, she wanted to take out her sister's best dish and lose to Hikigaya. That way, she could let go and no longer need to compete for a seat in the Elite Ten, but...
But now, she couldn't possibly take out that shameless dish in front of him.
Now, everything was clear. Hachiman's confusion was finally answered at this moment.
No wonder Haruno had come here at this moment. Perhaps... she had known all along, but... she still forced Yukino to make her own choice.
To be the original self who was useless, or to always hide in the shadows, just Haruno's replacement.
...
"Actually, you have a third choice."
Hachiman's words made Yukino stop breathing and made Haruno, who had been watching all of this from the judging panel, smile meaningfully:
'Hikigaya-kun, you're really interesting.'
Yukino: "Hikigaya-kun..."
Looking at the fragile girl in front of him, Hachiman gently walked up to her and gazed at her beautiful face with eyes that no longer avoided her.
Still, Hachiman blushed as he turned his face away.
Yukino: "If you're embarrassed, don't stare at people like that, idiot. You'll be seen as a pervert."
Hachiman: "I can't deny that, but... Yukinoshita, have you forgotten? We're partners..."
Yukino: "Partners? Do you really think so?"
Hachiman: "I really didn't like that idea a while ago, but now that I think about it, if you hadn't teamed up with me, I might have been kicked out a long time ago. So... there's never been a case of me helping you or you helping me. It's because we're partners that we chose to walk together."
Yukino's expression finally softened, and she gave a faint smile:
"Hikigaya-kun is saying things that are totally out of character."
"Well, I never thought I'd say something like that. It's practically as good as a social butterfly, but even so, you can understand, right? The days we've been partners, the dishes we've made together, those are our own dishes, so... you can still make dishes, dishes that are no less than your sister Yukinoshita Haruno's, dishes that are simply yours, Yukinoshita Yukino's."
Hearing Hachiman's words, Yukino's face stopped again, but the look in her eyes became bright again. Finally, she blushed a little shyly and turned her face to the side, mumbling:
"Idiot, those aren't just my dishes, there's your part too... I can't deny that either..."
Seeing that Yukinoshita had regained her spirit, Hachiman was genuinely happy for her and gave a faint smile, thinking:
'This girl, she's really a lot of trouble...'
'But, even though she's a lot of trouble... she's surprisingly cute.'
At the same time, the murmurs on the stage had stopped at some point. Everyone started snacking, because no one would have thought that the opponents in the final would stop to help each other. After all, the champion of the Autumn Elections has a promising future. A normal person would win the final even if they had to use dirty tricks, but Hikigaya was the opposite. To give everyone a great match, he actually adjusted his opponent's mentality.
Unbelievable. Even in the whole cooking world, these two were extremely explosive.
Even though you can't hear what the people on stage are saying from the audience, because contestants aren't allowed to wear microphones while cooking, and I guess only the judges know what the two said during that time, but... this doesn't stop the already horrible rumors from becoming even more horrible.
"Hey, it's confirmed that these two are lovebirds..."
"Is it really okay to show off their love in public? This is the finals..."
"In the end, Totsuki Academy invited so many people here just to let them eat dog food. It's funny to think about it!"
"Hahahaha, I guess people from other countries are dumbfounded, but even I have never heard of such a situation in Totsuki's decades of history."
Meanwhile, Erina, seeing Yukinoshita and Hachiman as loving as ever and back in shape, obviously wanted to know what the two of them had said, but she looked depressed, as if her eyes had dimmed.
Could this be the divine art of eye spirit transfer that has been lost for many years? To be able to turn a person with lifeless eyes into someone with bright eyes, and the other person the opposite...
Some people were sad and some were happy. I guess the one who couldn't hold back the excitement the most was Yui, because the two of them were her good friends, and of course she didn't want the final result to be vague. It was the best choice for her to be able to turn into this situation, but...
Even she noticed that Hikki seemed to have changed a lot now.
Ryoko: "These two, they're not as simple as they look..."
Mito: "They're way too close..."
Alice: "I wonder what Erina's expression is now, hahahaha..."
Kurokiba: "Miss, you're laughing too arrogantly."
Takumi: "I've thought so before, there's something wrong with these two..."
Tadokoro Megumi: "This is good..."
Shiomi Jun: "Is this good? If this continues, is it really good for Hachiman?"
Among these people, she knew the most about the Yukinoshita family, but even so, what she knew was only relatively external. She didn't know much about what kind of family it actually was.
But, no matter what, the current situation might be what everyone wants.
As everyone watched, Hachiman finally returned to his stove, and Yukinoshita also started her actions. Compared to her trembling hands just now, she was obviously much calmer now, but...
After all, forty minutes had already passed. It was definitely not an easy thing for them to finish a beautiful dish in the remaining eighty minutes, because their basic skills, which weren't that great to begin with, would affect their speed to some extent. Now, if a movement was mistaken, not to mention what the finished dish would be like, it would become a question of whether they could even get a dish out in the end.
Noticing that Yukinoshita had started cooking behind him, Hachiman finally calmed down, just sighing softly and clicking on the smart screen again.
"Now, the cooking has just begun!"
A lion's head goose was quickly brought up. Hikigaya continued brewing green tea while processing the parts of the lion's head goose. The part he needed was the goose liver. Now, it was too late to finish a green tea tofu duck again, but since he had already chosen this dish, Hachiman wasn't the kind of guy to give up halfway. He separated the green tea and the lion's head goose and boiled them separately. By controlling the heat and using the siphon, he completely locked in the original taste of the two ingredients.
That wasn't enough. The brewing method of green tea was definitely not something that a beginner could do, so what was needed wasn't how to save it, but to change the way of thinking.
Using tea as a side dish, adding the boiled duck broth and the goose liver, which was like ice cream, and adding a little starch to make the final mixture. It didn't look strange at all, and there was no difference from plain water, but...
The fragrance emitted by the high temperature couldn't be blocked.
Soon, the whole venue was filled with a strong green tea fragrance, and Hayama Akira, who had a very sensitive nose, quickly realized how powerful Hikigaya was.
"This guy... he's completely taken my skills and used them..."
Takumi: "Well, I can see the shadow of my cookery in it too. Amazing, Hikigaya is such an unreasonable guy..."
At the same time, Erina and Hisako, who were standing in the VIP room, were also a little dumbfounded, because they knew Hisako's cookery very well and also understood that a lot of theoretical knowledge was needed on this basis, but...
Erina: "Hisako... I didn't see it wrong, did I? Is this medicinal cuisine?"
Hisako shook her head gently: "Even if I can't smell any smell here, but... I can tell that this is definitely not some medicinal cuisine, after all, there is a huge difference between it and medicinal cuisine itself, but... it is so similar, this is..."
The two girls said in unison:
"Tea cuisine?!"
Although he didn't know how he learned it, but as a top chef it was impossible not to know that both tea and medicinal cuisines required a lot of theoretical knowledge and practice to support them, and Hachiman had never had any insights in this area, and no one had even seen him make such a cuisine, but the fact was...
He made it, and under everyone's eyes.
Yukinoshita smelled the green tea fragrance floating in the air and just felt her body gradually empty, and then gave a faint smile in such a focused competition:
'Hikigaya-kun, thank you...'
'This black tea cake is not dedicated to any of the judges, it is just dedicated to you...'
The five judges were just an excuse, she, Yukinoshita, just wanted to dedicate all the heartfelt feelings conveyed by this cookery to Hikigaya Hachiman, that was all.
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