Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 64 A Rivalry Renewed

"Soma Yukihira's group...all five of you pass the first round!" said the Proctor, gritting her teeth. They were the last group to present, and the other students had been waiting patiently for them to finish.

            "THIS MARKS THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE OF THE ADVANCEMENT EXAMS!" said a Central official over the megaphone.

            "We made it through..." said Yuki, breathing a sigh of relief.

            "Rrgh...what about the other rooms? What happened?" said the Proctor, turning to a different staffer.

            "E-er, about that, Ma'am...we made certain that every Resistance group in each room received 'special' ingredients...but not a single one of them presented a dish that could be failed! All of them somehow managed on their own to acquire better ingredients!"

            Yuki suddenly turned towards Erina, remembering that she was still in the room.

            "Oh! Right! Erina-chi! Woo-hoo! Erina-chi, we did it! We passed! Yeah!" said Yuki, dashing over for a celebratory hug.

            Erina half-turned towards her, keeping her face concealed with shadows.

            "Why are you smiling?"

            "EEEEE!" Yuki screeched, stopping in her tracks.

            "We've only passed the first of MANY stages. Do you think now is the time to relax?" spat Erina.

            "Yo, Nakiri! You wanna bite of our Yuan Yaki Salmon?" asked Soma, holding out a plate.

            "Yukihira! Be quiet!"

            "Hell yeah, I'll take some! I haven't eaten since our last pit stop on the bus," said Torrey, grabbing the dish and devouring it in no time.

            "N-nakiri-san's right. We have to stay focused," said Megumi. She was still looking nervous, after barely making it through the first stage.

            "Good point. Heck, there's no guarantee we would've passed this one without Alice and Yukihira in our group. And we've got another five just as bad as this one waiting for us!" Yuki pointed out.

            "ATTENTION, ALL STUDENTS WHO HAVE PASSED STAGE ONE. TRANSPORTATION TO VENUE TWO WILL BE BY TRAIN. THE TOTSUKI INSTITUTE'S PRIVATE RAIL LINE RUNS THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF HOKKAIDO. BOARDING WILL BEGIN IN A FEW HOURS. STUDENTS ARE TO TAKE THIS TIME TO EAT AND FRESHEN UP. ARRIVAL AT THE SECOND VENUE WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW MORNING."

            "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Our school owns its own railroad, too? How stinking rich is it?" asked Soma, unable to comprehend this.

            "I've never been on a train before! But uh...where are we supposed to sleep?" said Torrey.

            "The Moon's Shadow is a luxury sleeper train. You'll find that it has everything one might need on an overnight trip," said Erina.

            "Moon's Shadow? What a badass name! Sounds like some kind of planet-destroying superweapon," said Torrey.

            "It does no such thing! This isn't science fiction, you know...in any event, we should take advantage of this free time to prepare something to eat," said Erina, unamused.

            "I told ya already, you could've just had some of our-" started Soma.        

            "As if I would willingly eat something made by the likes of YOU!" snapped Erina.