Shibuya Snapshots

Art

Art and cooking are one and the same. Higashizawa grins. It's time to get cooking.

-xXx-

Some argue that art is limited to paint on a canvas. Yodai Higashizawa, a master chef, disagrees. His life is devoted to mastering every way to fry, boil, steam, bake, mince, and roast every single meal to perfection.

Due to his rather large (which would be an understatement, gargantuan would be more accurate) and imposing form, his peers would tease him when they were all younger, causing him to be trapped within a stirfry of self-doubt, depression, anger, any and all negative emotion. You name it, it's included in the recipe of his Soul.

He watches all the cooking shows aired on TV, has every single episode of every single season recorded, and diligently takes notes on any type of strategy or technique that world-famous chefs would perform or talk about.

He attends as many cooking competitions but almost always falls short of the top spot due to the popularity of the contestant or a simple error he had made in his rush.

He's outcasted because his passion for cooking and baking is outside of the stereotype. The ones that wouldn't outcast him are too afraid of him to even approach. That's fine. All he needs are his foods, never mind the people who only add too much spice to his life.

He gets his chance sometime after he turns twenty when he enters a cooking competition that will be aired on TV hosted by one of the most well-known chefs in the world who only came to the cooking scene recently, but also rules the kitchen with an unbiased iron fist and a priority for food quality.

He's challenged, but all of his recipes are presented like they were being served atop a canvas and not a silver platter, and while he cooks all of his recipes, the ingredients mix together not unlike different colored paints. Choose the right colors, and you'll get a perfect combination of the two.

All of the contestants do quite well, but none seem to grant as much of a favor as his own dishes and entrèes do. And the chef seems to appreciate his endless food puns.

Just as the chef is announcing the winner and shooting him several impressed and appraising looks, the unexpected occurs. A fire breaks out. Not a small stove fire, either. Oil spilled upon the floor-- an accident that had occurred sometime earlier --is the first to ignite, trapping all the contestants and host in the kitchen.

The spectators scream and are all quickly ushered out of the building. Idly, Higashizawa wonders how long it'd take the fire to perfectly cook a steak. Their chef leads them to the back emergency exit door as the flames quickly grow around them.

Due to his bulky frame taking up more space, he ushers all the other contestants to go ahead of him. All of them, except for their chef host, don't hesitate on making it through. The chef goes and Higashizawa follows closely behind. They have to be quick, lest all of them get roasted alive.

They're near the exit when the structure of the building starts to collapse. On reflex, his arms shoot up to catch part of a wall that had almost collapsed atop them. He ignores the searing pain shooting down his arms. If he lets go, they all get crushed. He can't let go.

The others move to safety and yell for him to join them. He can't. He knows he can't. He looks out at the people who he can properly say are his friends. All of them for the past few days have been training together for the competition, not a single one judging him for who he is.

Chef moves closer to try and help him as his usual unwavering strength is sapped by the flames and weight. He smiles, too hot tears dripping down his face as he tells him to leave him behind. Chef only comes closer and quickly surveys the situation, trying to figure out a way to save him.

The roof caves in and collapses, crushing them both. He hears the others scream and cry as both of their bones are burnt black.

He wakes up in the middle of the Scramble Crossing the next day and, after receiving an explanation of what was happening, he immediately searches for the chef and they partner up.

The Reaper's take their entry fees, Higashizawa's emotional control and Chef's passion for cooking. They vow to win, which they do. Chef is selected as the most worthy of revival, having learned to cut people slack and not constantly expect everyone to give their all every second of the day. He doesn't accept revival until he knows for sure what's going to happen to him. Upon hearing his decision to join the Reapers, he gives a small smile and they promise to meet up again one day.

The news on the fire states that there's only one casualty and that chef miraculously made it out alive.

Higashizawa doesn't mind living in the UG. Here, the Souls of all the residents of the RG and UG alike swirl into one mix, ready to be used as an ingredient for anything, be it art, cooking, anything that has the Imprints from the depths of the creators' Imagination.

Mr. Kitaniji graciously promotes him to Game Master under the precise instructions to erase every last Player. On the sixth day, he goes out to see Chef and he explains how the Game is going. Chef seems hesitant about his excitement to Erase every last Player from existence, but they both understand how being a Reaper works. Nonetheless, he doesn't say a word, only brings up a complicated recipe. The presentation of it is creatively and artistically crafted together.

Art and cooking are one and the same. Higashizawa grins. It's time to get cooking.

-xXx-

Me: The chef is just a random chef.

Me, writing: The chef is Gordon Ramsey.