The apartment’s elevator was a glass observation elevator, the night black outside, the inside brightly lit with white LED lights from the elevator to the hallway.

Stepping out of the elevator, Ryotan Kobayashi chuckled. “The last first-year who was that arrogant was Kuga. This is really interesting.”

Yuzu Arisugawa heard an unfamiliar name. “Kuga is…?”

Ryotan Kobayashi: “Last year, when he was still a first-year, he issued a food battle challenge to the Elite Ten upon first meeting them, aiming to take a seat. Very courageous, but unfortunately, he was taught a lesson by Eisuke, who was the third seat at the time.”

“Now there’s another bold first-year. I wonder if history will repeat itself.”

“Kuga is now the eighth seat.”

Yuzu Arisugawa thought Souma Yukihira might actually do something like that.

This was simply…

A shonen manga plot!

Last year’s foolhardy daredevil achieved success, this year’s foolhardy daredevil takes up his banner, completing the historical legacy. The path to the top, to becoming one of the Elite Ten, begins here.

Yuzu Arisugawa, her blood boiling, pretended to be calm as she addressed the current first and second seats of the Elite Ten.

“Senpai Ryotan, Senpai Shi, are you interested in wagering your Elite Ten seats against me in a food battle?”

Alright, Souma-kun, your path to legacy has been stolen! I will be the next to become one of the Elite Ten.

Ryotan Kobayashi and Eisuke Shi were about to refuse, but the other party’s dark smile, as if they had already won, was too cunning. They felt like she was imagining something strange.

The junior was strange.

“I-is that not possible?” Yuzu Arisugawa tilted her head.

But the junior was cute.

Ryotan Kobayashi, loving the drama, said, “Clang! I’ll be the judge. Go ahead, Eisuke, the dish will be beef donburi!”

Eisuke Shi pointed at himself, looking surprised. “Eh? Me?”

He waved his hand. “I can’t do that. I can’t. Bullying a junior like that…”

Before he finished, his face was cupped by a pair of hands carrying the coolness of the night.

The scent of roses aggressively surrounded his sense of smell, but his eyes met the refreshing green of a green apple.

“Senpai Shi.”

Her voice was softer than the summer night breeze.

“The word ‘bullying’ is rather arrogant.”

Anyone could see displeasure on her face, as if her actions were merely to express her dissatisfaction.

Eisuke Shi was successfully startled, redness spreading from his cheek where her hands had touched.

“Ah~ Ah—Ah—That’s not what I meant. I, I…”

Seeing the other party looking like a bullied little wife, steaming with heat, Yuzu Arisugawa contentedly released her hands. “It’s fine as long as Senpai agrees.”

Eisuke Shi, tearfully complaining internally: I didn’t agree!

“Come to my place. I need to use up the beef in my refrigerator.”

She extended an invitation.

Ryotan Kobayashi readily accepted, walking ahead hand-in-hand with Yuzu Arisugawa. Eisuke Shi, left behind, agonizing for a long time, finally followed like a ghost.

With donburi as the theme, Yuzu Arisugawa wasn’t going in with the expectation of winning.

She was going with the historical mission left by the unseen Kuga.

“Sukiyaki Beef Donburi.” She had made it with Souma Yukihira in the afternoon, and after tasting it, she thought it would work well with the A5 beef she had on hand.

It wasn’t that she lacked confidence.

She came from a wealthy family with abundant material comforts.

She had eaten most of the dishes from the high-end restaurants run by Totsuki Academy graduates. She understood the differences better than anyone.

To reiterate, she had a significant historical mission. Winning or losing was…

—Damn it, I’ll still be unhappy if I lose.

The person who swore never to eat beef again was now scraping the bowl of Eisuke Shi’s beef stew donburi, angrily eating mouthful after mouthful.

Eisuke Shi finally felt he had won back a point, a faint smile playing on his lips.

In daily life, he was extremely prone to anxiety and insecurity, but when it came to cooking, he had absolute dominance.

However…

The person who couldn’t even cut meat properly three days ago could now make a dish of this level. Eating the sukiyaki beef donburi prepared for him, Eisuke Shi was slightly surprised.

“Genius, is that the word?”

Ryotan Kobayashi came over, also holding a bowl of sukiyaki beef donburi she was enjoying.

Eisuke Shi seriously analyzed. “For a beginner to reach this level in three days, ‘genius’ isn’t enough to describe it. But if she truly possesses the same skill in all dessert-type dishes as she does with coffee jelly, it’s not impossible. Cooking is interconnected; mastery of one leads to mastery of all.”

“Her hands have calluses distributed like those of a seasoned cook. The calluses from using a knife and kneading dough don’t lie.”

Ryotan Kobayashi covered her mouth and laughed strangely. “Did you feel this when you were being teased just now?”

Eisuke Shi’s sharp and cool face instantly turned blank, denying three times. “It wasn’t teasing, it wasn’t, it wasn’t like that…”

His voice became weaker and weaker.

“Speaking of which, we only have less than a year until graduation,” Ryotan Kobayashi said, changing the subject after enjoying her friend’s embarrassment.

“Eh? Yeah.” Eisuke Shi responded, though he didn’t know what Ryotan Kobayashi wanted to say.

Ryotan Kobayashi seemed excited. “Don’t you think it would be interesting to personally cultivate the next top seat?”

Eisuke Shi was surprised by his friend’s idea. “You want to teach her personally?”

Ryotan Kobayashi tempted him. “Doesn’t Eisuke want to? Yuzu looks like she’s from a French culinary background.”

Eisuke Shi agreed with that point. “Aside from the fact that the heartland of desserts is in France, her cooking tools all have a French style.”

“But, I definitely can’t do it. Just thinking about teaching someone cooking is scary. I’ve never taught anyone before. I have no idea how to do it.”

Eisuke Shi was flustered, making so much noise that Yuzu Arisugawa couldn’t pretend not to know the two senpais were whispering.

“What’s wrong, senpais?”

Ryotan Kobayashi actively sold out her teammate. “Eisuke wants to personally train Yuzu to become the next top seat~”

Eisuke Shi’s slender body trembled, softly denying, “No, I don’t.”

Ryotan Kobayashi used a knowing tone. “If you really didn’t want to, Eisuke’s reaction would be that teaching others wastes his time researching cooking, right?”

But he had just been agonizing over how to teach someone.

Eisuke Shi was speechless, changing his tone. “I’m curious how far you can go.”

A question mark slowly appeared above Yuzu Arisugawa’s head.

Things were taking a strange turn.

Yuzu Arisagawa: “As long as Senpai Shi doesn’t get mad at me, let’s add each other on Line. Senpai can arrange the time.”

After all, she had gotten the better of the situation, so Yuzu Arisugawa was very obedient.

Eisuke Shi and Ryotan Kobayashi realized they hadn’t even added each other.

Then they saw the junior’s online name.

“Deduct 1, add merit to help me graduate.”

Eisuke Shi: The teaching task suddenly became more difficult.

Since Eisuke Shi’s teaching time was after school, Yuzu Arisugawa ultimately didn’t escape the fate of continuing to taste-test for Souma Yukihira for the next two days at school.

Fortunately, they won the food battle against Mito Meat Demon, and Yuzu Arisugawa once again swore never to eat beef again in her life.

Did you see that flag?

On that night of victory, which caused Yuzu Arisugawa to clap in celebration, Eisuke Shi placed a steak on the table.

Yuzu Arisugawa: He definitely did it on purpose.

“Senpai Shi, I didn’t expect you to have such a mischievous side.”

Eisuke Shi tilted his head, showing his confusion. “Arisugawa-san has made rapid progress in beef dishes recently. Of course, we need to strike while the iron is hot. But don’t use those low-end, commoner cooking methods anymore. I will properly teach Arisugawa-san the correct way to cook beef.”

Yuzu Arisugawa blinked. “Senpai, are you bothered by Souma-kun teaching me cooking?”

Eisuke Shi vaguely said, “You are my student. Defiling your cooking is no different from defiling mine.”

“Cooking doesn’t require a self. You must wholeheartedly dedicate yourself to cooking. That’s the correct path.”

This was the first time Yuzu Arisugawa realized the difference between herself and him.

“Want to make a bet, Senpai Shi?”

“Someday, you’ll be defeated by that Souma-kun.”

Eisuke Shi widened his beautiful violet eyes in disbelief. “You actually think I’ll lose? That’s too much.”

Eisuke Shi, who easily turned into a little crybaby, had no misty eyes this time. Yuzu Arisugawa paused in preparing the seasonings.

Only when it came to cooking did Eisuke Shi have unparalleled confidence.

He was completely different from his usually insecure, soft self.

Yuzu Arisugawa looked at the white-haired boy, whose very hair exuded self-confidence, with bright green eyes. “The bet is one request. The loser grants the winner one request.”

Meeting the boy’s gaze, Yuzu Arisugawa slightly curved her lips, smoothing out the tension. “Any request is fine.”

The boy replied, “Okay.”