Soma: The Phantom Seat (Abandoned)

Chapter 12 Shokugeki with an Alumnus Part 1

"I have to be the lead cook?" Megumi says in a panic tone.

"Yes, you must choose the recipe alone. The Phantom must only be of support to her." Dojima Gin says.

Soma asks, "But I was the one who made the challenge for the Shokugeki, so why?"

"Yukihira...let's say you win with your cooking skills and make Tadokoro survive, what good will it do for you? That wouldn't change the fact that she's a hanger-on." Dojima says. "She would just be disqualified eventually on another assignment. Or would she have Yukihira...or someone else saves her again? In Totsuki, you must prove your worth with your own skills. That means, whether Tadokoro should stay or not in Totsuki is something she has to show herself. Starting tonight, at this moment...in this kitchen. Tadokoro-kun, you are a chef."

At the same time, Shinomiya already knows what he is going to make as he starts to prepare the food, and he says, "I feel you, Phantom, no, Yukihira."

"Why is that?" Soma asks.

"You're feeling desperate, right? Because your expulsion depends on the skills of that dunce."

Inui is a little terrified and says, "Did you hear that hateful way of speaking?"

Gotoda says, "That's why you don't last long with a woman, Shinomiya-san."

Mizuhara says, "Shinomiya, I think you really have a bad personality."

Shinomiya is having a tick mark on his face and says, "Silence outsiders! And Hinako! When did you get rid of the ropes?"

Inui ignores Shinomiya and yells, "Do your best, my Megumi-chan!"

But Megumi is looking at the ingredients with a panicked face, since she is battling chef Shinomiya Kojiro, the person who went to France alone after graduating, and a chef that opened a restaurant on the battleground of gourmet food, Paris.

Soma notices that Tadokoro is trembling, and he says, "Tadokoro."

But before he can say anything, Dojima Gin says, "Just for your information, you can't revise her recipe. Because you're only a Sous-chef. You thought that Tadokoro is worth surviving here, right? If you say you can't believe in her cooking skills, then step down from this challenge now."

Soma says, "There is no way I can step down, I'm a chef and it's not like I will run away from the kitchen."

He turns to Megumi and says, "Tadokoro, there is no need to worry about battling a senior of ours. I have done this a lot of times as the Phantom. The only difference is that our opponents are much senior than us."

"How is that supposed to help..." Megumi says while she is still trembling. But Soma puts her hands together, and claps on them hard, breaking Megumi out of her trembling daze. Megumi is shocked for a second, and then she cries out, "Soma-kun? That hurts!"

"It's only fault is you can't do it alone. That was a trick I once learned at home that eases the tension." Soma says.

Megumi then feels the trembling stopped, and Soma says, "Right now, calm down and then think carefully about what we're making."

"But...Chef Shinomiya is going to make a genuine French dish that was polished there, you know? If I can't make a dish that can win against that, Soma-kun will be expelled..."

"My Dad said this: Cooking is putting all you have on top of a dish. For now, just forget about things like what the opponent will make."

"But a dish made by someone like me..." Megumi says.

"The onigiris you made at the dorm were really delicious. Don't think about unnecessary things. Just make a dish that suits you." Soma says.

Shinomiya just looks at them and he taunts, "I'm surprised, you haven't even started preparing the food? It seems your chef is quite a dunce..."