Chapter 31: Early Investment

Hayama glanced at his basket and found it empty.

"Hmm? It's unfortunate, but that's all I have. There are still some other stations, so feel free to check them out," he announced to the expectant gazes directed at him from the crowd gathered in front of his station.

"Eh? That's so sad..."

"I really wanted to try your omelette."

"Sigh... two great buffet menus just gone like that. Truly unfortunate..."

They couldn't help but feel saddened by the fact that these two stations, facing each other, had stopped serving their menus.

Hayama could only offer them a wry smile and apologize.

As much as he wanted to provide them with the food they desired, his hands were tied since he had run out of ingredients.

"I served a total of 250 plates, and that guy served a total of 200 plates..." Hayama silently pondered, feeling his lips twitch as he glanced at Tsuna, who was running on the treadmill nonchalantly.

Although he had served more plates, Hayama didn't feel good at all, knowing Tsuna hadn't even brought as many ingredients as he had.

"From the beginning, that guy just wanted to serve enough servings to pass..." He shook his head as he began to clean up.

However, Hayama briefly stole a glance at Tsuna, who was running at a pace that seemed a bit too fast for a casual jog.

He couldn't help but mumble, "Is he really just trying to save time and catch his morning run?"

"...Whatever, I shouldn't even care about that anyway."

Hayama felt it would be better to stop thinking about such an oddball as he picked up his pace in cleaning his station.

On the other hand, the fact that those two stations, belonging to Tsuna and Hayama, who had been attracting all the judges, had closed down, gave hope to others around.

The crowd finally turned their attention to them!

This was their chance to catch the whole crowd's attention with their dish and complete their assignment!

"...!"

Miyoko Hojo, who had been on the verge of despair, finally saw a glimmer of hope within this unexpected situation.

She couldn't help but feel relieved as people were surprised by her Spicy Sichuan Scrambled Eggs!

"Wait! It's not too spicy?"

"Really? The color is scary though?"

"No, you gotta try this..."

"Umm!! You're right! Whoa!"

After a while, their reactions also started a domino effect as the crowd lost interest in other stations, which seemed quite ordinary, and began to flock to her station.

They wanted to try something different, and Hojo's station offered exactly what they desired!

"Thank goodness, with this, I should be able to complete the assignment safely..."

Her legs felt weak as she forced herself to stand up and cook more servings for them.

Only about half an hour had passed before they completed their assignment, and Hojo finally reached 200 servings.

"Phew... I guess I've sweated enough," Tsuna muttered as got off the treadmil. He then took his towel and wiped his sweat as a voice was heard from the side.

"Ito-kun, why aren't you cooking?"

"I don't have enough time to serve more..."

Tsuna shook his head as he saw Alice leaning over to his station with a confused expression, noticing some ingredients left untouched.

"But you clearly still have more ingredients..."

Alice muttered to herself while leaning toward the station, placing her finger on her cheek.

"Well, anyway..."

She turned to Tsuna, a smug grin on her face. "I'm not here to worry about that. I've served 380 servings this time, how many do you have?"

"Oh, 380? That's a lot of servings... I've only done 200 servings..."

Hearing Tsuna mention a lower amount than hers, Alice proudly puffed out her chest, pointing her finger at Tsuna.

"Fufu, of course, that'd be the case! It's solid proof that I'm way better... Huh?"

However, in the middle of her sentence, she suddenly realized that her eyes were widening and her confidence was faltering, "Wait, how many did you say?"

"I only did 200 servings..."

Tsuna shrugged, which made Alice fuming as she pouted, "Mou! You must be deliberately doing this..."

"How annoying! Go cook your dish for me to judge who's better!"

Alice grabbed Tsuna's arm and attempted to pull him toward his station to cook.

"..."

However, her pitiful strength was no match for Tsuna's, who barely budged an inch, twitching his lips in speechlessness.

"Hmph! Of course, you were only fast. 200 servings? I doubled that amount and did more than 400..."

A condescending voice echoed as Tsuna and Alice turned to see Erina approaching them.

"Erina?"

Alice furrowed her eyebrows, subconsciously stepping in front of Tsuna as if protecting her territory.

But Erina paid no mind, continuing with her words, "Such a disgrace. You think you're better than me just because you're fast? Being fast doesn't mean a thing in front of my cooking..."

She wore a smug expression, confident in her culinary prowess.

Glancing at Alice before turning to Tsuna, Erina added, "You should just follow her instructions and cook what you've served before to save some face..."

"..."

Tsuna remained silent as he just rolled his eyes at her.

Erina's cheeks flushed red as she quickly looked away, attempting to explain herself, "Hmph! Of course, I'm not doing this just because I am curious about your cooking as well. I'm just such a magnanimous person that I offer you some guidance..."

Seeing this, Alice's eyes flashed as she swallowed her urge to start an argument with Erina and turned to Tsuna with a smile, "See, even Erina agrees with me! Come on, Tsuna, go cook!"

"Sigh... Listen, I'm not interested in cooking more since I've already worked up a sweat. It's time for a cold bath for me. So, my answer would always stay the same.... Hmm?"

Tsuna's response was laced with weariness.

However, his attention shifted abruptly, drawing Alice and Erina's gaze. They followed his line of sight to a beautiful lady with a mole under her eye, her 11-year-old daughter tugging at her hand.

"Mom! The chawanmushi that I like is here... Eh?"

"It seems like they ran out of food here..."

However, before she could lead her visibly disappointed daughter to other stations, Tsuna suddenly appeared before her.

"Hmm? Ah, you are..."

"I'm the one responsible for this station. I'll get your chawanmushi in a moment, just give me a second..."

With a swift movement, Tsuna disappeared behind the counter. A soft, gentle aroma started wafting from the station as he steamed another chawanmushi.

In no time, he reappeared before her, holding the dish delicately.

"Here's my special Chawanmushi just for you."

"Ah, sorry for troubling you, young man..."

The lady accepted the dish with a soft chuckle, her eyes lighting up as she beheld the beautiful bowl of chawanmushi in her hand.

Meanwhile, both Alice and Erina were seething with frustration as they shouted at him, "Ito-baka! You said you didn't want to cook anymore, so what's this!?"

"She's a mother I'd like to fry rice for," Tsuna explained with a stony expression.

"Young man, you're too young for me..."

"You can always invest early, my lady."

"Fufu, you're really good with words..."

"Don't worry, I can be good at other things as well."

"Oh my..."

With a confident smile, Tsuna gently took her hand, eliciting a shy smile from her as she placed her hand over her cheeks and closed her eyes in shyness.

She seemed to be enjoying this when suddenly, Alice's voice pierced through the air, "Ito-baka! She's married already!"

"Ah," The mother, who had shared her chawanmushi with her daughter, smiled at Alice, her eyes narrowing slightly, "I'm actually divorced..."

"Why do you need to explain, you old lady!?"

"Fufu, who knows..."

The mother's response was light-hearted, but it seemed to irk Alice even more. A strange tension seemed to spark between them.

"Grrr...!!"

Alice growled like an animal who was cornered while the mother remained composed, a small smile playing on her lips.

On the side...

"P-pervert..."

Erina muttered, looking away with a flushed face, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

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