A few days later
Erina left, going back to school and as she left, Hiro made a phone call. He said "Joe!" Joichiro said "Yo! What's up?" Hiro chuckled and said "Your daughter-in-law was at my restaurant in Rome. I gave her a single wish and she wanted me to find you, supposedly you're her idol."
Joichiro was silent and another voice was heard "DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!? WHERE?!" Hiro started sweating and said quickly "Anyway Joe, she told me to find you, If you have a chance to come ov-" Tamako's loud shout came to the phone "Hiro, you bastard! Who is it?! Who is this girl!?"
Hiro coughed and made static noises, saying "What? I ~pshhhhss~ can't hear ~pshhhhs~ you! Call me ~pshhh~ back!" before hanging up and muttering "Phew! Women!" he blinked and turned his head to see Zerotwo looking at him with a 'smile'.
He flattered "I wasn't talking about you, angel! Haha!" She replied "So I'm not a woman to you?" Hiro turned white and pleaded "Spare me!"
A week or so later
Hiro went to Totsuki and stumbled upon the Autumn Leaf Viewing.
He looked at the Elite Ten and the first year students and cracked a smile, watching from a bit away. He heard Soma challenging the Elite Ten to a Shokugeki and the Elite Ten refusing him. He shook his head at this and sighed, youngsters nowadays.
Where's the pride and confidence?
If someone challenges you, you should crush them with all you have!
He was about to leave, when someone stopped him and said "Hey... Aren't you Hiro?" Hiro stopped and turned around to see the first seat of the Elite Ten, Eishi. The rest of the people were looking at him too.
Hiro cleared his throat and said "Hello, students! I seem to have gotten lost!" Soma chuckled and the rest felt their mouths twitch. Eishi looked at Hiro and said "Can we fight?" Hiro looked at him, stunned, and Soma shot up, saying "No! I asked him first! You can't take this from me!"
Hiro looked at Eishi and smirked saying "You refuse to accept his challenge and yet you challenged me instead?" Eishi replied "He's not good enough for me to take seriously." Hiro laughed, startling everyone.
He looked at Eishi and said "And you think you're good enough for me to take seriously? Who taught you what cooking was? I really want to give him a beating." the students were confused and Soma asked directly "What do you mean?"
Hiro looked at the group and smiled "Who cares how good someone is at cooking? Even if they burn bread making toast, if they have the guts to challenge someone then they should be respected! If you refuse a challenge because they 'aren't as good as you', then you're just a hypocrite. There is no scale to cooking there is no rank..."
He slowly grinned evilly "Despite that, I accept your challenge. Come, I'll personally show you what you look like in front of me." before turning around and walking away, Eishi followed him and Soma picked up his coat before running after him, saying "Wait! I want to Judge!"
The rest were stunned and quickly followed along.
They came to a kitchen in the school and Hiro looked at Eishi with a teasing smile, saying "You pick what we make, we can even make your specialty~" Eishi frowned at Hiro and Hiro just smiled at him, Eishi said "You're not taking this seriously."
Hiro tilted his head and said "Tell me. Do you really want me to?" Eishi was silent for a few moments before nodding, Hiro lost his smile and became cold as he said "Pick the dish." Eishi and the rest were startled by the change and Eishi picked Salt Crust Salmon.
Hiro went back and pulled 2 fat salmons from his inner world and handed one to Eishi before saying "Start."
Hiro grabbed his salmon and pulled out a flaying knife before gutting the fish, he removed all the unnecessary guts and flesh before pulling out all the bones from the body while simultaneously making it look like the fish was normal without even an incision.
He coated the inside with spicy powder and rubbed it all over the fish meat. He made little cuts on the inside before ducking the fish in wine and letting it soak for 3 seconds. He took out the fish and slapped the body, spurting out the extra wine and rubbing the meat on the inside again.
He dumped salt on a tray before putting the whole fish on top and covering it completely in salt. He took out a chopstick and drew into the sand before putting it in the oven. He went to his station and cleaned up before standing by the oven with his arms crossed, looking at Eishi.
Eishi looked to be pressured by Hiro's serious aura and sort of struggling.
Hiro just looked on coldly without saying anything.
Meanwhile
The other students were in a daze, they didn't even see Hiro cut the fish and it looked the same but he did all these things! What level do you have to be at for that to happen? They didn't know but they knew that the fish would definitely be extraordinary.
A while later
Hiro took his dish out of the over and covered it with a dome before walking to the judges table. Eishi brought his as well and placed it down getting a good reaction from the judges. Hiro took off the dome and revealed his dish.
The students' eyes bulged out as they looked at the Mermaid on a rock seemingly singing, they couldn't believe it. It was so beautiful!
Eishi's face fell and Hiro tapped the side of the mermaid's tail with a knife. It had a smooth crack and the entire tail opened up, revealing the salmon on the inside. It glistened like little rubies, the cuts Hiro made were shown at this moment.
There were no bones only little sections that could be taken out with chopsticks. Soma took out a piece and the fish left the skin as if it was never connected in the first place! He put the little ruby in his mouth and moaned directly, going into a daze.
He felt himself to be a sailor traveling the seas and suddenly hearing a beautiful voice singing to him only to find out it was a mermaid with fiery red hair.
The other judges had the same reaction but Erina's clothes exploded.
She didn't even notice and Hiro looked around, seeing everyone in a daze, he took out a cloak from his system space and covered her in it before leaving the kitchen. Eishi had already eaten the fish so there was no one who was 'awake' in the kitchen.
Nobody noticed that Hiro left and when they came to they were frantic, wanting to know how he did it. Unfortunately for them, Hiro was long gone by then.