Devotion (Shokugeki No Soma X Male OC)

Chapter 37: Pomp and Circumstance

Narrator: The Stagiaire requires participants to leave a visible mark in a professional setting. The challenge was reaching its zenith.

(SHINO'S Tokyo. Final day of the pre-open)

Abel: No, no! That's not how you time the suer process. Watch. Don't rush. Visualize the process as though you're making the vegetables sweat.

Soma and Yusuke were watching attentively.

Abel: Here. Don't forget what this surface looks like right here.

Soma: Yep. French cuisine is really interesting.

Yusuke: I know. It requires a thought process that differs completely from traditional Japanese cuisine.

Abel: You're right. Japanese cuisine tends to empathize minimal handling and processing of ingredients to keep them "raw," but French cuisine spends copious time and effort on processing ingredients. Even making a single stock requires an extremely long time. It's entirely different from, say, the use of dried bonito in Japanese cuisine- What?

Soma: Oh, just thinking that you're a really good teacher.

Yusuke: Yeah. You're not so bad Blondie.

Abel: That's because you two have zero basic knowledge of French cuisine! And stop calling me Blondie!

Lucie: Yukihira, have you memorized the recette for the fish dish today?

Soma: Yup! I'm all good.

Lucie: So, how's it going? Did any of you figure out what you're going to make in tonight's competition?

Soma: Yeah, I have the basic idea, but I haven't managed to finalize it, I guess.

Yusuke: I've been thinking and going through all kinds of tests, I want to make something outside my expertise with seafood, and then I came up with this one thing...

Kojiro enters the kitchen

Kojiro: Ready? Don't let your guard down on the last day. Let's go.

Everyone: Oui, chef!

Soma: (The specialty... the dish that I alone can make... I'll make it tonight for sure!)

(Later that night)

At the entrance of SHINO'S, Kojiro was being interviewed by a group of reporters and paparazzy.

Female Reporter: Chef Shinomiya, the pre-open at SHINO'S Tokyo is a huge success!

Male Reporter: So, do you have any plans to open a third restaurant?

Kojiro: *Laughs* Let's not make any assumptions. I first have to make SHINO'S Tokyo as established as my flagship restaurant in Paris.

(Meanwhile, at the kitchen)

Abel: Kudo, next up is Table 3! Hurry!

Yusuke: On it!

Lucie: Yukihira, I need your help here.

Gao: Table 6 will be showing up late.

Soma: Then I'll work on the fish dish for Table 5 first!

They continued to work at the restaurant until it was finally over.

Soma: Well, I guess it's finally over.

Yusuke: So you closed this early because it's the last day of the pre-open, right?

Kojiro: We're not closed yet.

Yusuke: We're not?

Kojiro: I've invited one more group of guests and reserved the whole place for them.