Chapter 22: Food War!

"Good morning..."

Shinomiya greeted the students, who all looked intimidated, knowing he had expelled many students the previous day.

"..."

Sweat trickled down their foreheads as they nervously awaited Shinomiya's next words. They gulped mouthfuls of saliva, truly terrified of facing any assignment from Shinomiya.

Amidst all of this, Megumi Tadokoro also nervously glanced at Shinomiya, feeling her body trembling.

However, seeing Soma standing beside her, Megumi swallowed her nervousness and tightly gripped her fist in determination, "...I want to be with them until the end!"

"I will work harder and become better!"

Her eyes shone as she looked at Shinomiya.

"You should already have the recipe for today. It's quite simple, so you won't need to team up for this..."

Shinomiya continued explaining with his annoying smile, the one everyone wanted to punch, as he added, "You can use the vegetables at the back. And I'll give you one piece of advice..."

"...You'd better consider everyone around you an enemy!"

His expression turned serious as he narrowed his eyes.

"...!"

This made everyone feel even more nervous as they looked around warily. Shinomiya smirked slightly as he observed their reactions.

"Alright, you'll have three hours. You can start now!"

"Huh! Shit! I gotta be quick!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Damn, my cabbage!"

Every single student immediately rushed back toward the vegetable table to grab what they needed.

"Eh! Ahh, no..."

Megumi was pushed back by the crowd, but she was persistent, trying to navigate around them to gather the ingredients she needed.

She looked at her basket with a satisfied nod as sweat trickled down her forehead.

There was one last ingredient she needed, and her eyes brightened, "Then, I only need the cauliflower!"

"It should be around... here..."

She was about to reach the table where the cauliflower was located when she felt her heart sink.

"...!"

Her pupils shook as she realized the state of the cauliflower left, causing her previously brightened expression to crumble.

"Every single one of these looks discolored..."

That meant the quality was lower, as they had begun to oxidize, which wasn't ideal for cooking.

"No... I might just be overthinking..."

Megumi gulped, trying to convince herself as she began to check each one individually.

However...

After checking twice, she realized there wasn't a single good cauliflower left. This realization hit her hard, causing her to slump to the floor in disbelief.

Memories flashed before her eyes, nearly bringing her to tears.

"Oh? Are you looking for a cauliflower?"

A voice interrupted her reverie, and she snapped back to reality, turning her head to see someone she knew from Soma's group, "Ito... kun?"

"I happened to pick up two..."

Tsuna smiled as he placed one of the cauliflowers back on the table.

"Oh..."

Megumi felt tears welling up in her eyes, feeling as if she had just received a blessing.

She timidly wiped her tears away and was about to bow in thanks but was stopped by Tsuna.

"No need to thank me, you just picked it up from the table, right?"

"Ah... Um, yes!"

Seeing her adorable reaction, he chuckled and suddenly asked, "Megumi, are you up for adoption?"

"...Pardon?"

"Wait, no, that's creepy. Hmm..." Tsuna rubbed his chin, realizing his comment was definitely out of line.

Megumi blinked her eyes in confusion while tilting her head cutely.

"She's definitely cute, which means..."

His eyes gleamed as he offered her a smile, "Then, why don't you introduce me to your mother?"

"Eh? W-why?"

"Why?"

Tsuna's expression turned stony as he shamelessly spoke, "Because she must be a Mother I'd Like to Fry rice for!"

Or... M.I.L.F for short!

"Ah? Eh? Ano..."

This made Megumi suddenly flustered, unsure how to respond.

"Haha, I was just joking..." Tsuna just laughed at her. 

No, he was not!

He then suddenly patted her head and she blushed shyly, "Well, it's about time we cook..."

"Hn!"

Megumi nodded as Tsuna left for his countertop.

He could feel a piercing gaze directed at him, and his expression slowly morphed into a calculative one as he turned to see Shinomiya clicking his tongue at him.

He just flashed the guy a smirk, "Why? You mad?"

He didn't 'help' her since he was just putting down what he didn't need, which left Shinomiya unable to find fault in that.

"...Arrogant prick!"

Shinomiya fixed his glasses as he silently cursed.

Tsuna had been thinking about his mission for a while, and getting into this class made him think of an idea.

Looking at the vegetables in his basket, which were in perfect condition, Tsuna just looked at them disgustingly, "That guy must be a psychopath..."

Who in the world would dedicate a special vegetable cuisine?

Vegetables tasted sad, and Tsuna hated it.

Still...

He wouldn't cook them halfheartedly, which was why...

"I'll do it my way!"

Tsuna's eyes gleamed with cunning.

"You failed! Next one!"

Shinomiya spat in disgust at the unpleasant Nine Terrine Vegetables in front of him as the student fell to the floor with a pale expression.

However, he was merciless as he moved to the next dish, which was Megumi's. He looked at her briefly before tasting it and then spoke, "...Pass! Next one!"

"Ah, thank God!"

Megumi exclaimed, relieved, as Soma gave her a thumbs-up.

"Here, please have a taste!"

"You're the last one, huh?"

Tsuna placed his Nine Terrine Vegetables in front of Shinomiya, and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

"..."

Megumi seemed to have felt it, looking at Tsuna nervously, while Soma observed the scene with interest.

He silently thought, "Tsuna should easily pass this, right?"

However...

"You failed!"

"Huh?"

"What? Ito-kun?"

Both of them widened their eyes in shock at the unexpected result.

"Why would you fail that? It tastes good, doesn't it?"

Tsuna's expression remained calm as he questioned Shinomiya's decision. However, Shinomiya was unfazed as he calmly adjusted his glasses.

"You changed my recipe. You failed to do such a simple job, yet you dared to ask?"

"I didn't change it..."

"You think I'm st---"

Tsuna raised his hand to silence Shinomiya, who was about to rebuke him, and continued, narrowing his eyes, "I improved your recipe!"

"...What did you say?"

Shinomiya's expression darkened at those words, and the other students looked at Tsuna in shock.

"I said your Nine Vegetable Terrine tasted terrible! So I added a pinch of paprika to deepen the flavor..."

Shinomiya felt insulted, his expression turning cold.

"It might have a bit more flavor, but you still failed to follow my recipe! You're disqualified as a chef if you can't even follow a simple order!"

"Disqualified? From you? You're just a trash who got stuck, following you will only fuck me up..."

"...!"

Shinomiya's expression suddenly changed at those words.

Tsuna's words were like pouring salt on a fresh wound as Shinomiya tightly clenched his fist in anger, "...Do you even understand what you're saying just now?"

"Why? You think I said anything wrong?"

Tsuna's eyes were cold as both of them stared into each other's eyes, plunging the atmosphere in the room into frozen silence.

"If you want to prove me wrong, then let's do it the cook's way..." 

He lowered his tone as he declared, "Food War! I'm sure you will end up crying..."

"You sure are barking quite loudly for a puppy..."

Shinomiya felt his veins bulging out of his forehead. To be insulted like this was unacceptable, which made his answer quite obvious.

He decided to teach this prick a lesson!

"Alright then, sure, I'll take back my words if you win but..."

Shinomiya fixed his glasses.

His eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and he continued, "...but if you lose, you should stop cooking for the rest of your life. You don't deserve to be a cook!"

"...!"

Everyone who was watching the sudden challenge for a Food War widened their eyes in shock at the bet.

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