Two Identities

Chapter 15: Autumn Elections (Pt.3)

(3rd Person's POV)

The day of the main tournament...

"Thank you for your patience! The main tournament of the 'Autumn Elections' is finally here! We will begin with the first match in round one! Our first contestant is candidate Etsuya Eizan, who took 2nd place in block B preliminaries" Suzuki announced with excitement, as Eizan walked in the arena with a proud smirk while the audience cheered for him.

"And his opponent is candidate Takahashi Akio, who took 4th place in block A preliminaries!" he continued, as Eizan's opponent walked in.

You were sitting between the audience with Satoshi and Nene to watch the match, while Kuga was in the standby room, watching the match. You could tell that Takahashi was scared out of his mind because Eizan is probably giving him a frightening grin and a stare that probably made his soul go up to heaven.

"Glad I'm not the one going against him..." you couldn't help but think. For the judges, there were five, and this time, the director Senzaemon was between them, sitting in the middle. Though you felt a little scared, yet you were excited at the same time. Definitely going to impress him in your match which already hyped you up!

"Now, on to the 1st match! The topic is 'Chicken'! The time limit is 2 hours!" Suzuki declared.

"LET THE COOKING BEGIN!!" Senzaemon shouted.

Eizan and Takahashi started cooking, and you couldn't help but keep your eyes on Eizan as he removed the skin and fat from the chicken, and then put it in a pot of water to boil the chicken. As you kept staring at Eizan's cooking skills, you were getting more fascinated with each second. His way of cooking was unfamiliar to you, and you were dying to know more about him.

"S-Satoshi!" you called while tugging on his sleeve but still staring at Eizan. Satoshi smiled at you and giggled, "he's amazing, isn't he? So expected from the 'Alchemist'".

For the first time since the match begun, you broke the staring and looked at Satoshi with raised brows, and eyes full of wonder. "'Alchemist'? What's that?" you asked.

"Alchemy cooking is Eizan-Kun's cooking style, which he uses methods to negate the flavour of his opponents' dishes, and often alluded to alchemy. Through his intensive knowledge of many chemical components and their various interactions with taste receptors, Eizan-Kun is able to create dishes that disrupt the balance of flavour in his opponents' dishes. In other words, flavour sabotage, to which is the ability to sabotage his opponent's dishes by presenting flavours in his dish that would clash or reduce the impact of their dish" Satoshi explained.

"Woah...sounds really sneaky, yet fascinating. So, does that mean that his opponent won't stand a chance against him??" you asked with wide eyes. The brown-haired boy smiled sheepishly, "I'm afraid so...".

"I'm done!" Eizan proudly spoke. "Our first to finish cooking is candidate Etsuya Eizan!" Suzuki announced as Eizan walked towards the judges with a smirk drawing his lips.

The judges' eyes widened as they stared at a masterpiece. "A-Amazing..." judge (1) stammered.

"This is my 'Hainan Ji Fan', a set meal of boiled 'Satsuma Jidori' which is a type of high-quality poultry, garnished with cilantro, and jasmine rice that was cooked in the water used to boil the 'Satsuma Jidori', and a side of salad" Eizan presented.

-

(Y/N's POV)

"Awww, I really wish I could try it!!" I couldn't help but think as I drooled over Eizan's dish. The judges obviously stared in awe, and I can't blame them! It looks SO delicious!