Food Wars: The Fighter

Chapter 11: The Summer Break Day 1

It was currently June, which meant that it was our summer vacation. Knowing about the annual autumn elections, I knew there was a chance that I would be elected to participate along with the others within my year. Deciding to give Erina a call, I pulled out my cell phone and called Erina once I had opened her contact. The phone rang three times before the receiving end picked up.

"Hello, this is Erina speaking. How may I help you, Yamazaki?" Erina asked.

"So Erina, about the autumn election candidates..." I started the conversation. When Erina realized that I had only called to ask who was going to compete, she was probably already mad at me.

"Yamazaki, I suggest that you should wait instead of calling me to tell you whether or not you're part of the autumn election. I'm swamped at the moment so that I will talk to you another day. " Erina hung up. I had a feeling that she was going to say something like this, but I still called her for whatever reason.

Shrugging off the fact that she refused to tell me if I was in it or not, I got out of my bed and left my room. The moment I had stepped out of my room, I noticed a maid standing outside who was about to knock on my door.

"Oh, Lady Y/N. Your father is looking for you, and he's in his office." The maid informed me. Wondering what my dad needed me before, I thanked her and took my time to head to his office.

I knocked on my father's office door, and his muffled voice called out to me to enter. I opened the door to his office and entered the room, shutting the door behind me.

"Did you need me?" I asked him as he took his eyes off of his computer and looked at me.

"Yeah. The Kamoto family has contacted me and requested you to help at their restaurant. They also mentioned that you're capable of helping their son with his skills." Dad says.

"Kamoto...? I've heard of that name. Oh, wait! It's Akinari's family. " I asked him. He nodded.

"They're currently short-staffed at the moment. They're still looking to hire more staff, so for the time being, you will be helping them while they hire more people." Dad explained as I nodded, "...You don't need to nod your head so aggressively..." he then says once he realizes that I've been doing it the whole time.

"Sorry!" I stuck my tongue out, "When do I start?"

"Tomorrow." He said as I was in shock.

"Why the late notice?! I don't even know where they live!" I exclaimed.

"I'll have the limo set up for you so you can travel there daily. It'll only be a week or two." He explains as he gets up and ushers me out of his office.

"What! Dad!" He slams the door shut as the lock clicks from behind. "That damned old man! I'll get back at him one day!!" I angrily muttered under my breath.

"Ha! It looks like you got to do something at very late notice!" Tadashi said. I jumped in shock at his sudden voice as he was standing by the office the whole time, eavesdropping on the conversation the entire time.

"Tadashi! I swear to god I'll kill you!" I yelled at him as we soon started running at full speed, chasing each other across the mansion.

"My lady and lord! Please stop running in the hall!" A maid yelled at us.

The following day, I boarded the limousine designated to take me to the Kamoto family's restaurant.

"Miss Yamazaki, we're here." The driver called me from the driver's seat, and I thanked him and left the limousine. When I had left the limo, I looked at the building that sat in front of me.

The restaurant, which I had figured was the Kamoto family's restaurant, looked like an ordinary local place. I approached the front door and entered the building.

"Excuse me! I'm here!" I called out, hoping someone would hear me. The back door to the kitchen soon opens, and the person who steps out just so happens to be Akinari.

"Ah, Y/N! You're here!" Akinari smiled, "Y/N's here!" He says he is talking to someone inside the kitchen. Soon, two other people emerge from behind the kitchen, and they appeared to be the owners and Akinari's parents.

"You must be Yamazaki's daughter. We're glad to have you here! I'm Yuri, Akinari's mother. That's my husband, Tanjiro." The older woman smiles.

"It's nice to meet you too! Is there any way I can help?" I asked right away, so I knew what to do.

"Yes, take a look at the menu first," Yuri says as she heads to a counter where the menu was. She hands it over to me so I can look it over as she explains. "Our issue is that not only are we completely short-staffed, but it also seems that orders get delayed due to staffing issues and the number of customers we get."

"Right...Let's see..." I walked into their kitchen to see what I could work off and checked over everything in there. From what I have noticed, there weren't a whole of ingredients prepared right away. "First, if you're short on staff, it's good to get ingredients prepared right away before the restaurant opens. Since you're not open for another hour, now's a good time to start considering that there are plenty of dishes you serve based on what I saw on the menu. Second, what does Akinari kun normally do to help out?"

"Usually, we have Akinari doing customer service. He's not exactly the perfect fit to do kitchen work, so we're hoping he'll start practising soon," his father, Tanjiro, explained.

"Right, is this the part where I come in to help him?" I asked, which they nodded at. "Alright, I'll see what I can help him with. The menu isn't that hard for me to learn. Most of which I've cooked or seen before in my life. It shouldn't be an issue,"

"Thank you so much, Yamazaki. We're grateful!" Tanjiro said as I flashed a smile.

"It seems like the ingredients aren't prepared entirely. Who's usually in charge of that?" I asked, going through the kitchen's storage to gather all of their ingredients.

"Yes...It's our head chef who does it normally, but he recently quit." Yuri responded as I nodded.

"Right. Akinari kun, work with me here. We've done plenty of preparation in school, so now's your time to put those skills to good use."

"Got it, Yamazaki-san," Akinari nodded

"Hm? I thought I told you to drop formalities. Y/N's fine." I told him as he responded with a nervous smile and apologized.