Chapter 3

"Yo Soran! I just made a new dish! Want to try it?" Soma asked excitedly from the side as Soran was engrossed with a book in his hand.

"If it's anything like the last one I'll kill you." Soran retorted, not even looking up to see Soma's devilish grin.

"It's worse! Fried squid with mayonnaise." Soma defended with pride as he brought it closer to Soran's face.

"Get that thing away from me!" Soran complained, his face wrinkled in disgust while shooing the boy away.

"That's enough, Soma. He's studying." Joichiro said from beside him, the boy in question finally letting up as Soran let out a sigh.

Going back to his reading, he just barely felt Joichiro pass a plate into his hands as he spoke. "Eat up."

With his eyes not leaving the page he was reading, he took a scoop of the plate's content.

"Gahhh!!!" He screamed as he rushed to the sink to spit it out.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Dried sardines with strawberry jam. What do you think?" Joichiro's voice came from behind him, the grin on his face mirroring the one that Soma had earlier.

He threw the man a dirty look as he and Soma laughed to themselves. "What is wrong with you!?" He yelled while facing them.

"Oh, you want to taste mine?" Soma said, raising his own plate of monstrosity towards Soran whose face twisted in anger.

"No!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Name: Yukihira Soran]

[HP:100%/100%]

[Skills]:

[Gastronomy][16/50]

[Physical Conditioning][6/50]

[Knife Work][10/50]

[Cooking][9/50]

[Tap to Expand]

He had underestimated how long it would take to level up his cooking skills. A month had passed since Joichiro tasted his risotto and ever since then, the man had put him through hellish teachings.

He knew that the more skills leveled up, the harder it would be to level them up again. The month passed with him only getting 5 levels in cooking.

As stated earlier, the only reason he got it to level 4 so quickly at the beginning was because of they low requirements to level it up at the time.

He opened up a new page that he had recently discovered in the system.

[Traits]:

[Son of the Demon]

[As the offspring of the demon of the cooking world, your talent in cooking is almost immeasurable.]

[Effect]:[Increases leveling speed of cooking skills by 60%]

Looking it at, he was constantly reminded of the man that was his father. The man that was once called the demon, the second seat of Totsuki's elite ten during his time.

He often wondered how long it would have taken him to take [Cooking] to level 9 if he didn't have it.

"Soma, Soran, come here." Joichiro called out, snapping him from his thoughts. He looked down to the floor to see the laughing Soma who had a throbbing bump on his head.

Dropping the book he was reading, he got to his feet to meet the man in the kitchen, Soma trailing behind. Joichiro also had a throbbing bump on his head as he spoke.

"It might be a bit early for this but we're going to do something different." He said as a confused look came on the twins' faces.

"What's that?" Soma asked the question on both their minds.

"Today you'll be having a cook off…against each other." Joichiro revealed as both boys had a look of shock.

"You're kidding right?" Soran asked dryly as Soma had a look of excitement on his face.

"Really!? Awesome! I'm going to win!" Soma declared as Soran turned to him, his pride not allowing the statement to fly.

"Dont get confident so quickly. I'll wipe the floor with you." He retorted despite knowing their difference in skill. Despite seeing his imminent loss, he just couldn't let Soma's statement go unanswered.

He just couldn't…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The theme for this cook off is…rice!" Joichiro announced in a dramatic tone as the two teens looked at the array of ingredients in front of them.

Tying his headband with a grin on his face, Soma began making his dish. Soran on the other hand frowned before turning to their father.

"Can I get something from the store real quick?" He asked to the man's confusion. Soma who heard was also a bit confused but Joichiro nodded either way.

"Go ahead." He allowed as the boy bolted out of the kitchen to the store. Not even three minutes later, he came ran back into the kitchen with a small container in his hand.

"Now then, let's get started." Soran muttered as he took out a large pot and poured a small amount of oil into it, allowing it to heat up a bit.

He quickly took his knife, neatly but quickly dicing some green chili and peppercorns. He did the same for the onions, garlic and bell peppers.

As the oil grew hot, he added cumin seeds, watching as they spluttered for a few seconds. He added the prepped green chili, peppercorns and a bay leaf and sautéed it for 30 seconds.

He added the sliced onions and bell peppers, salt, and turned down the heat to medium low. After five minutes passed, he added the chopped garlic and allowed it to cook for a few more minutes.

He added some tomato paste and stirred it continuously for a few minutes before adding the necessary spices.

Joichiro who was watching the two from the side couldn't help but be surprised as he watched the younger twin work.

'This recipe…I didn't teach it to him. It looks like all those books are really helping. Still…' The man thought as he turned his attention to Soma who was cooking a much simpler dish.

'…he has a long way to go.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dig in!" Soma announced as he presented his dish to Joichiro. On the plate in front of him was a traditional fried rice from the Yukihira Diner menu.

Taking a spoon from the set nearby, he scooped up a spoon of the rice to taste it. Upon tasting it, the man only smiled with a hum.

"Not bad!" He said before turning to Soran who brought his own dish forward.

"It's red!" That was the first thing Soma had to say as he looked at Soran's finished dish.

Unlike Soma's normal fried rice, Soran's own had a very reddish color to it. The chilis, corn kernel and pepper he used could be seen on the surface of the rice, adding to its visual appeal.

"Tandoori cooking. Though it is commonly used for preparing marinated meats or vegetables, it can also be used to make rice. It uses Garam Masala to enhance the taste of the food." Soran explained as he set the dish down.

"Garam…Masala…? What's that?" Soma asked utterly confused, drawing a dry stare from Soran.

"Garam Masala is a combination of roasted and ground cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and black pepper. This spice mixture is great on practically anything because it imparts a mellow but savory flavor to whatever you use it on." Joichiro was the one who offered the explanation as Soma nodded rigorously.

"You didn't understand anything, did you?" Soran asked only for the the boy to shake his head.

"Nope!" Joichiro let out a sigh as Soran's dry stare turned to one of exasperation.

"Well, don't worry your head about it. Now let's taste this." Joichiro said, taking a scoop of Soran's rice.

His eyes narrowed just a bit as the taste hit him. Just as he expected, the spicy nature of the food hit him, followed by the flavors of the rice itself.

"Hmmm…I guess we have a winner." Joichiro dragged out with a mysterious look as Soma screamed in impatience.

"Out with it already!" He complained as Soran simply waited for the man to speak.

"The winner is…Soma." The man announced with a smile as Soma jumped in joy.

"Did you hear that!? I won!" He shouted comically as Soran scoffed.

"Get over yourself. You only won this time. I'll win the next time so enjoy it for now." Soran muttered but it fell on deaf ears as Soma continued celebrating to his ire, a tick mark growing in his temple.

"I won! I wo-"

"Shut up!"

Joichiro looked on as he let out a brief laugh. For a moment, a hint of seriousness flashed through his eyes.

'It's only been a month and he's gone this far. He's gotten better than the last time.' He thought as he looked to Soran who was currently strangling Soma on the floor.

"If he continues like this, it won't be long until he catches up to Soma. What terrifying talent!' He thought to himself.