Chapter 5: Opening Ito's Golden Fried Rice!

"...You... passed," Erina spoke after a brief silence, then looked away and puffed her cheeks.

Tsuna just casually smiled as he nodded in satisfaction. "Well, appreciate that. Can I go now?"

"Hmph, do whatever you want!"

"Hahaha, alright..." Tsuna chuckled slightly, then turned to Soma. "Soma, I'm leaving... Good luck!"

"Oh! Alright! See you in class then..."

Soma replied confidently, which made Tsuna nod with a small smile as he made his way out of the kitchen.

"Don't you want to greet them, Senzaimon Nakiri?"

Tsuna asked as he walked out of the kitchen toward an elderly man who seemed to be hiding.

Senzaimon had long spiky gray hair, a mustache, and a beard, and he wore a worn green kimono.

"...You know me?"

Senzaimon looked at the young man in front of him in surprise, wondering how this young man had noticed his presence.

However, he had seen Erina's reaction when she ate what this young man had cooked a while ago and knew that he was anything but ordinary.

"Of course, I'm about to enroll in your academy. It would be foolish not to know who my principal is..." Tsuna chuckled as he glanced at Soma, who was slowly approaching Erina with his cooking.

He then turned to Senzaimon and spoke, "Well, it's nice to meet you, but I have to go back home to open my restaurant this evening..."

"I see. I congratulate you on passing the exam. I'm looking forward to what you could show us."

"..."

Tsuna just smiled as he waved goodbye, a gesture not very Japanese-like, which made Senzaimon look at him with slight confusion.

"...Wait, we've been speaking in English this whole time?"

Senzaimon suddenly raised his eyebrows as he chuckled, looking at the young man. He muttered, "He's an interesting one..."

"Let's see if Joichiro's son could match that energy..."

He turned to look at Soma in the kitchen as his eyes flashed with an expectation.

Meanwhile, Soma was confident he could pass this!

However...

"YOU FAIL!"

Erina spoke annoyedly as she looked at Soma's smug expression, which only served to irritate her further.

"Such an unsightly dish, I-I refuse to admit it was good enough!"

She silently exclaimed in her heart.

On the side, Hisako could only stand in silence as she silently observed Soma's expression, which turned stiff.

"...It's good, I admit. But compared to what the other participant made, I would agree with Erina-sama."

She would agree with Erina's decision anyway, but it was her way of justifying what she saw, despite knowing Erina was just being a bit childish.

"Ah, she's acting out again," Senzaimon lightly facepalmed as he sighed, looking at his granddaughter's childishness.

Though his pupils were filled with love despite her behavior.

"..."

Soma was about to protest, but recalling Erina's reaction when she ate Tsuna's dish made him swallow his words.

"...That's right," he turned to look at his dish, which Erina had barely eaten a few bites of and then shifted his attention to the cleanly eaten bowl of Omurice made by Tsuna.

He tightly clenched his fist, "I lost against someone of my age!"

Soma couldn't help but feel frustrated.

It might not be a competition, but just that fact alone made him feel as if he had eaten shit.

"..."

He didn't say anything as he slowly made his way out.

Erina and Hisako could only look at each other as Erina suddenly felt guilty. However, she immediately scoffed and muttered, "It's not even my fault anyway, he's just not good enough. Hmph..."

After everyone had left, Senzaimon shook his head as he made his way into the kitchen. He then took a bite of Soma's Transforming Furikake, and his eyes lit up in surprise.

"...He's indeed Joichiro's son," he muttered to himself, deciding that he would overrule Erina's decision to fail Soma.

"If only that interesting young man had something left for me to taste..." Senzaimon looked at the empty bowl of Omurice that Erina had finished with a sense of pity.

However, an idea struck him as he glanced at the glazing sauce on the kitchen counter, where Tsuna had prepared his Golden Omurice.

He approached it and, without hesitation, dipped his finger into the sauce and tasted it.

"...!"

Senzaimon's eyes widened in shock at the flavor.

Unbeknownst to him, his clothes had nearly all but vanished, leaving him bare-chested.

"...Tsunayoshi Ito, huh?"

He muttered to himself, eyeing the participant list as he silently decided to double-check Tsuna's background, "No wonder Erina finished it all up. I'm looking forward to tasting your cooking..."

[Mission Completed!]

[Congratulations! You have successfully passed the exam and are now considered to be part of Totsuki Culinary Academy as a student!]

[Receive the reward? Y/N]

"Hmm, alright..."

Tsuna accepted the reward, but he suddenly widened his eyes as he felt a strange sensation crawling through his body, almost causing him to lose his footing.

Thankfully, he was quite close to a wall, so he leaned on it.

It took a few minutes for the sensation to die down slowly. Tsuna then took a deep breath and muttered, "What was that? Shit was really unpleasant..."

"I don't think I will ever get used to it..."

Tsuna continued as he shook his head, slowly getting to his feet and jumping around as he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What is this? I feel a lot lighter..."

He closed his eyes, feeling like the earth he stepped on had become an important part of his being, sensing a strange connection to it.

Tsuna was pleasantly surprised by this as he chuckled, "This is some voodoo-type shit, damn. I don't know why I get such a reward since I'm in a culinary world, but I'll take it nonetheless..."

"Alright, time to go home and open up my restaurant..."

Tsuna decided that it was not the time to check on his unexpected power-up.

He nodded to himself as he immediately started jogging and shouted, "Who's gonna carry the boat!"

His place was about 30 km away from the academy, so it would take some time to get there Tsuna's eyes were filled with determination, and he kept moving his legs despite his body being on the verge of giving up.

He need to take some rest?

Bullshit!

What mattered was always his mindset!

He knew one crazy motherfucker who would keep running for days despite his feet being broken. Tsuna wouldn't want to lose against that crazy guy since he felt he was a lot more sane in the head.

That's what he thought.

A few hours later...

Tsuna finally arrived home and immediately took a shower before opening his restaurant without even taking a moment to rest.

"Oh? You're open now?"

A cheerful voice rang out, prompting Tsuna to smile in response, "Ah, yes! Ito's Golden Fried Rice is open... ing... today...??"

"...!"

However, his words trailed off as his expression shifted to shock upon seeing the man... no... the creature before him.

"Really? That's great! It's been such a long time since the last time I had fried rice from this place..."

A yellow octopus, about three meters tall, with a large, bulbous head, a wide smile, and beady eyes, looked at the restaurant with a seemingly nostalgic expression.

"Shit, I was wondering why I got that kind of reward but seems like things are not that simple. Just what the hell did I get myself into?"