Soma: The Phantom Seat (Abandoned)

Chapter 11 Failing Crisis

The Training Camp reaches its second day and Kojiro Shinomiya bids the students welcome. "Good morning, I'm Shinomiya, an Alumnus from the 79th Generation. On this assignment, you'll have to cook a dish that I designate."

Some students start panicking, as Kojiro was rumored to have expelled more than 30 people the day before. The task is Nine Vegetable Terrine, one of the recipes that Shinomiya invented.

"Did you wish for a more difficult one? I chose a rather simple of my Recettes." Shinomiya adds. "And you won't form teams for this assignment. You should finish your dish alone. Exchanging information or giving advice is forbidden while cooking. You can select and use any of the ingredients gathered in the back of the kitchen. I'll give you one piece of advice. It would be wise to think that all those around you are your enemies. The time limit for this is 3 hours, well then, start!"

After the assignment starts, the students rush to the back in order to collect their ingredients. While trying to pick her ingredients, Megumi Tadokoro is pushed aside, falling to the ground.

"Like I will lose." Megumi thinks as she picks the vegetables, and when she goes to the cauliflower, she gasps as she sees that all of them started oxidizing and their color's grown slightly dull. The only ones that were left are in a bad state. Megumi knows that if she cooks them normally like this, their color will get worse after she uses lye, and the beautiful appearance that's very important for Terrine will get ruined.

Megumi wants to ask Soma for help, but she knows that she can't always rely on him for everything, she calms down and finds a way to preserve the cauliflower's color.

"Okay, you passed." Soma presents his dish and he goes with flying colors, it is a good thing that Chapelle has taught him a lot about French Cuisine, so it is not a problem for him.

Soma turns to Megumi, as he is very concerned about the girl. Megumi manages to complete her dish and serves the dish to Shinomiya, but after he tastes a bite of the Terrine, he says, "Tadokoro Megumi, you're fired."

This causes both Soma and Megumi in disbelief. And Shinomiya asks, "Now, with this, everyone's submitted their dishes, right? All of those who failed must pack and go to the hotel's lobby."

Megumi asks, "Um...why is my dish failed?"

Shinomiya says, "When you boiled the cauliflower that had started going bad, you used Wine Vinegar, right? You sued the Vinegar, since it has a bleaching action, to preserve the beautiful color, and by using the vinegar as a seasoning too, you made the cauliflower's sweetness better. The vegetables and the vinegar's mild sourness made an exquisite combination of flavors."

"But then why?" Megumi asks.

"Who said you could change the recipe?" Shinomiya asks. "This dish is made so that you can enjoy the harmony created by the sweetness of every vegetable. Was there any part of the Recette that said "Make the best use of sourness? What you made is already a totally different dish. If you submit a dish that's not in accordance with the assignment, you're naturally disqualified. Do you understand now?"

Soma says, "I can't agree with that. That was inevitable. There were ingredients whose freshness had begun to decline mixed in there. To begin with, we're being treated as senpai's employees, right? Then, the responsibility of the management of the ingredients should lie on you, Shinomiya-senpai, since you're the boss. Isn't that a fault as a chef?"

Kojiro slams on the table and says, "You brat, who do you think you're talking to? Huh? I'll tell you since you didn't understand. The cauliflowers in a bad state were mixed in there on purpose. In order to narrow the passing students down."