Finding My Special Ingredient

Part 9- Camp of Hell

3rd person's pov

"Have all the students get the notice yet?" One of the teacher asks. "They should all have recieved it by today." Another teacher answered. "They have reached the first fork in the road. This is when those who step up will distinguish themselves from those who will fall out." Chapelle sensei said. Meanwhile in the Polaris Domitory, "Good morning Soma-kun! What a lovely morning it is!" Isshiki said from the pipe. 'Isshiki senpai?' Soma thought. "I have something I need your help with. Come outside once you have dressed up." Isshiki said. "... I'm still sleepy. I stayed up late last night coming up with new food. Go ask someone else for help." Soma said while covering himself with the blanket again. "Come on now Soma-kun. Don't be that way." Isshiki said while Soma screamed about him coming from the ceiling. Few moments later Soma was up and walking with Yoshino while she laughed at how he was woken up. "So, what are we suppose to do?" Soma asked while walking with the orange haired bun bun girl. "We are goint to be harvesting veggies form our vegetable garden out back." Yoshino said while Soma was shocked. Yoshino explain as to that everyone's specialty is different which is why they all have thier own plot of land where they care for their own specialty. "Ibusaki-kun makes the wood chips he uses for smoking meat and melted cheese. Ryoko-chan specializes in cooking food that use shio koji as an ingredient, so she has her own warehouse close to the dorm where she ferments her own." Yoshino said to Soma while walking to where Isshiki is.

While walking there, they stop by a land with animals. "As for me, I want to make my own breed of polaris chicken, like the French Bresse. I have my own flock I'm keeping free-range here." Yoshino said. "So..." Soma was about to ask when Yoshino lead him to a garden. "Over here is the place Isshiki senpai runs. A kitchen garden with over a dozen different kinds of vegetables!" Yoshino said while Soma just gapes at it. From far away, Soma can see the figure of Isshiki with a hoe working on the field. The only thing questionable was what he was wearing. 'That look actually works on him.' Soma thought while Isshiki was saying encouraging words to make Soma help him out. "Soma-kun, look! See how many ripe ones I found?" Tadokoro said while Soma exclaimed at how she was here too. Soma then looked her up and down. "You know, that look works in such a normal way, it's a relief." Soma said while Yoshino agreed, leaving Tadokoro confused. "This way everyone! Follow me." Isshiki said while walking to the other side of the farm with crops ready for harvesting. "Learning how ingredients grow and ripen is an important lessons for chef. You can call this garden the Polaris Field, or better yet, Isshiki's Garden!" Isshiki said while plucking one of the tomato off. "Here, Soma-kun, take a bite." Isshiki said as he handed him the tomato while Soma thanked him and took a bite out of it. "Whoa! It's so crispy and sweet! I wish we could get tomatoes like this for Yukihira's! How did you grow something of this quality, Isshiki senpai?" Soma said as he took another bite. "To be honest, I've had my hands full taking care of this place. I hardly made it to class lately." Isshiki said while Soma sweat drop at this point. 

After that, they all started to take care of the garden together. Even Ryoko and Ibusaki came to help when they were done with their portion. When the sun was at their head, exhaustion started to kick in. "Ugh, my back hurts." Soma whined while he got up from his position. "I'm starving." Yoshino said while she hold her stomach. "Everyone, how about we have lunch?" Tadokoro said while holding a bento. "Hm? Did you make that, Tadokoro?" Soma asked. "Yep! I got up extra early this morning." Tadokoro said as she opened the bento to reveal onigiris. "Ooh! This looks good! Rice ball after a hard morning's work in the field." Soma said, ready to dig in. "Itadakimas." Everbody said and took one to eat. "Mmm! This is so yummy. It's salt and spring onion flavoured, right?" Yoshino said after taking a bite. "Yep! I boiled some chicken tenderloins and dressed them with salt and spring onion sauce. I then spread the sauce on the outside of the onigiri too. "Hm? Tsukudani Kombu and cheese?" Isshiki said after he took a bite of his onigiri. "Right! the heavy sweetness of Tsukudani foods goes really well with cheese." Tadokoro said. "Okay then, let's see what the last one is!" Soma said as he took a bite. "Yum! The garlic flavour is awesome!" Soma said while munching on the onigiri. "Those are my Honey-Garlic Pork Onigiri. I boiled some pork belly until it was soft and then I let it marinate with some garlic for a day in a mixture of miso, cooking sake and honey. It's super awesome with rice, so I thought I'd try and make it into a onigiri. I also brought barley tea and green tea. Take your pick." Tadokoro said while pouring some.