Capítulo 12: Chapter 12
"Would you stop pouting?" Soran complained as the twins walked through an unbelievably long road.
"No." Soma answered quickly, causing Soran to sigh tiredly as he looked at the papers in his hand.
It was getting late and they were currently on their way to the dormitory they were assigned for the year. It felt like they had been walking for hours yet they hadn't arrived at said dorm.
"First of all, What's with this school!? It's ridiculously huge!" Soma complained, the frustration finally too much for him to contain as Soran shook his head. "Second of all, you didn't allow me to taste your beef bour-…bourgun…bourguini…ahhhh!"
"Beef bourguignon." Soran corrected in an exasperated tone.
"You know what I meant!" Soma screamed in frustration. "I'm freezing! I'm so hungry that this squid isn't cutting it anymore." he continued, referring to the small piece of squid that he was nibbling on.
"According to this, we should be arriving very soon." Soran comforted as he looked at a map of the school in his hands.
"Thank goodness." Soma said, relief evident in his tone. "They have a lot important looking building, don't they?"
"Some of them are research groups for student clubs and seminars while the rest of them belong to the various faculties that falls under the school's operation." Soran explained only for Soma to look at him blankly, not understanding a word he said.
"Those important buildings…" Soran said, gesturing to the buildings around them as Soma nodded. "Are actually important looking buildings where people cook and study." he explained as simply as he could.
"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Soma asked, looking at Soran like he was dumb, eliciting a sigh from the younger twin.
"We're here." He announced, coming to a stop as Soma did the same. Looking at the 'dorm' in front of them, it looked more like a haunted house than a dormitory for students.
There was even a cawing crow perched on the gate that flew away as they approached. The gate and the walls had creepy vines going around them that gave up spooky vibes. On the wall beside the gate was a plaque that read 'Polar Star Dormitory'.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
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Upon entering the building, it was dark and quiet with only the sound of the closing door being heard.
"Hello?" Soma called out only for smoke to pour out from the top floor, swimming in the air towards them.
'Is there a fire?' They both wondered in confusion as the ceiling suddenly shook heavily, the tremors being easily felt from where they stood. The shaking didn't stop as a stampede of farm animals rushed out from the hallway at the side.
"Usako! Kamosuke! Shikanoshin! No! Don't leave me!" A girl with amber colored hair screamed as she chased after them, rushing past the brothers who looked on in confusion.
"Hey, Room 116! Don't you dare let game animals into your room! If you do it again, I'll flay you alive!" An elderly woman's voice came from a speaker at the top of the walls.
"Sorry!" The girl screamed as she chased after the animals.
"And Room 208! You turned an empty roo…" the voice continued on to berate the current members of the dormitory.
Soran could only give an exasperated look at that. 'It's like living with five of Soma.' He complained seeing as how one was already enough.
The twins turned around as footsteps could be heard from behind them. "You two must be the transfer students who want to live in the dorm?"
"I am the caretaker, Daimido Fumio. A.k.a. Fumio-san, the Madonna of the polar star. That's what you're to call me." She said intimidatingly. At least it was supposed to be intimidating but Soran only looked at her tiredly.
'Should I have simply registered in another dorm?' He wondered as the woman continued speaking.
"So, what did you bring by the way of ingredients?" She asked, prompting a look of confusion from Soma.
"What ingredients?" He asked as Soran turned to Soma.
"I thought I told you to get some ingredients before we left." He said accusing, causing the boy to have a look of realization.
"Oh! Those ingredients?" he asked, Soran nodding. "I used them." He admits bluntly, causing Soran to run his temple in frustration.
"How did you finish that entire bag of ingredients?" Soran questioned, his tiredness clear in his tone.
"I finished early in my Spanish cuisine class and the teacher was nice enough to let me experiment on my own." He admits sheepishly.
"What am I going to do with you?"
"The condition to be eligible to live here is that dorm applicants must make one meal. Only those whose cooking passes muster will be allowed to reside here. I will serve as your examiner. You're allowed to pick your own ingredients to use." Fumio explained as Soma looked panicked.
"Why am I just hearing about this now?! I haven't got any ingredients with me." Soma complained, causing Soran to look at him dryly.
"It's on the first page of your application form." He retorted.
"I guess that means you lose by default. I won't let you cross over the threshold without seeing what you're made of." Fumio said simply.
"Then that means tonight I'll have to…"
"Camp out, of course." She said, cutting Soma off.
"No way!"
Just when Soma looked like he was about to rant, Soran spoke up. "Don't worry, I have enough ingredients for the both of us." He said with a blank stare as Soma turned to him.
"Why didn't you say that sooner!?"
"Because you were supposed to have your own!"
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Upon entering the kitchen, Soma was surprised. It was a complete contrast to how the building looked from the outside.
Unfortunately Soran didn't bring any meat or beef so he wasn't sure what Soma would make this time.
Looking at the batch of ingredients, he already knew what he was going to make. He decided on it long before they arrived here.
"Hang onto your seat, Polar Star Dormitory Caretaker Daimido Fumio-dono!" Soma screamed in an overly dramatic manner as he tied his white headband before he began cooking.
Soran stayed silent, opting to let his food do the talking for him. From one of the cabinets, he got out a large lidded sauce pan and filled it with salted water.
He carefully lowered a medium sized cauliflower into the pan before covering it. He then moved to the oven, heating it up in preparation for the next step.
Getting a bowl, he mixed some vegetable oil, dried mixed herbs, sweet smoked paprika, garlic granules along with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Turning back to the sauce pan, he took it off the heat, leaving it to steam-dry for a while. He quickly chopped up some parsley, keeping it to the side for the time being.
He then took another bowl, mixing together the lemon juice, yogurt and a pinch of salt and pepper each before tossing the mixture into the fridge, confusing Fumio who was watching him.
'These kids…there isn't a single moment of hesitation or doubt as they're cooking. I wonder what kind of dish they'll present.' She thought as she looked between them.
Soran turned his attention back to the cauliflower, wiping off the excess water with a sheet of kitchen paper. He got out a deep roasting tin, putting the cauliflower in it and brushing over it with the oil mixture he made earlier, making sure to cover the bottom as well.
He set it to roast in the over for a total of twenty minutes before bringing it out again, basting it with the oil in the tin while roasting for another twenty minutes.
Drizzling with the yogurt sauce and scatter with the parsley and pomegranate seeds as he plated it, finishing his dish.
He turned back only to see Soma pushing a happy Fumio away from him. "Let go of me, old lady!"
"Am I interrupting something?" Soran asked with a deadpanned look as he looked at what was remaining of Soma's dish. Unlike what he did in canon, he made a burger. The only thing that didn't change was that he still made the mackerel patty to put in the burger.
"You're finished? Let see what you've got." Fumio said, composing herself as Soran dropped the plate in front of her.
"Whole roasted cauliflower. Eat up!" He said as the scent flew into their noses.
"Cauliflower?" Fumio repeated in confusion as she cut out a small piece, taking a bite. Her eyes widened immediately as a look of pleasure emerged on her face, creeping Soran out.
'That's not normal!' He complained as Soma turned to him.
"This time I'm having a taste!" He screamed determinedly as he hastily cut out a piece.
"Knock yourself out." The younger twin replied tiredly as Soma's eyes widened as well in shock.
Soma and Fumio recovered at the same time as she turned to face them both. "You pass!" she announced as she dug out two room keys from…somewhere.
"You'll be in room 303!" she said, giving one of the keys to Soma. "You'll be in room 304." She continued, giving Soran the other key as the two boys left to get settled.
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Soran stood in the shower, allowing the hot water to pour down on him. Soma and Megumi already had their little bathroom accident, leaving the bathroom free.
His mind drifted as he thought about the months to come. 'Training camp…Autumn elections…Stagiarie…though I'm sure I'll get through that, it's what comes after that I'm worried about. Nakamura Azami…'
With Soran's presence, he wasn't naive to think that a lot of things wouldn't change. Why try and keep things close to cannon when it was already derailed from the moment he entered this world?
'Asami, central…I'm just starting to have fun here. You're an obstacle to that fun. For my sake, you'll have to fuck off.' He thought as he reviewed his plans for the future.
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After drying off, he dropped off his towel among other items in his room before making his way downstairs with his box of ingredients.
Going down the stairs, he heard voices coming out of one of the rooms on the second floor before the sound of the door closing was heard, muffling the voices.
He ignored it, continuing on to the kitchen. Offloading the items in the box onto the table, he had a serious look on his face, deep in thought.
"Is there any reason why you're naked in the kitchen?" Fumio's voice came from behind him, surprising him.
He was only wearing pajama trousers with his upper body bare as he stood in the kitchen. It was his normal state of dressing when he went to America for those months.
"I apologize. I wanted to test out a few recipes before I go to bed." He explained.
"You're an eager one, aren't you? To be young again…" she muttered as she left the kitchen, leaving him to what he was doing.
"Hello, transfer student!" Another voice said from behind him, drawing a sigh from him at the constant interruptions. He turned to see an older brown haired boy in a white dress shirt with a pink apron over it.
"We're having a welcome party upstairs." Before Isshiki could extend the invite, Soran interrupted.
"I apologize but I'll have to pass on that. I'm quite busy with something at the moment." He declined as he decided on a few ingredients, moving them to a work area as the older boy chuckled behind him before speaking.
"Would that thing happen to have anything to do with your Shokugeki tomorrow?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author Note: On a totally unrelated note, Ikumi is looking pretty interesting…
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