"Um… this is kiritanpo hot pot, right?"
"Y-yes!"
Tadokoro Megumi nodded nervously, looking at Sato who had come up to the stall.
"Ever since leaving Akita, I haven't seen this kind of dish in a long time. Didn't expect to find it here."
Sato looked at the pot in front of him with a hint of nostalgia.
Inside, the grilled rice sticks, shaped over charcoal, simmered together with Hinai chicken, water celery, and mushrooms. The rich, savory aroma kept rising and filling the air.
"You're from Akita too?!"
Tadokoro Megumi froze for a moment, then looked at Sato with surprise.
"Yeah."
Sato nodded, then smiled. "Three servings, please."
"Okay!"
Tadokoro Megumi quickly lowered her head and got to work. Though she had seemed nervous earlier, once she entered her working state, her movements became unexpectedly smooth, as if she was already quite familiar with the task.
Taking advantage of the moment, Sato glanced at the person not far behind her and asked in a low voice, "Is that person supervising you?"
Hearing this, Tadokoro Megumi carefully glanced back and whispered, "Yes, that's an examiner!"
"Examiner?"
A hint of confusion appeared on Sato's face.
"Mm. I'm actually a student at a culinary academy, and this is part of our practical course."
Hearing that, Sato seemed to realize something and looked around. Only then did he notice that quite a few of the stall owners on this entire street were around the same age as the girl in front of him.
With this kind of scale and system, this culinary academy seemed pretty impressive.
"Speaking of which, I have two friends at a culinary academy called Totsuki. Are there a lot of schools like that in Japan?"
"Huh?!"
Tadokoro Megumi suddenly looked up at him in shock, her expression turning strange. "I'm a student at Totsuki Academy, and a school like Totsuki is rare even in the entire world."
"Hm? That strong?"
Sato wasn't very familiar with the culinary world, so he looked quite surprised.
But thinking about it, it made sense. Culinary traditions were mostly passed down through families or restaurants. There weren't many formal schools, and most places offered only short-term training courses.
For a culinary academy to reach Totsuki's scale, it would be strange if there were many like it.
Tadokoro Megumi handed over the food Sato ordered. As she took the money, she asked curiously, "Can I ask your friend's name?"
"Oh, one of them is called Nakiri Erina, and the other—"
"Nakiri Erina?!"
Before Sato could finish, Tadokoro Megumi looked at him in shock.
Seeing this, Sato raised an eyebrow. "Is that strange?"
Strange? This is way beyond strange!
Tadokoro Megumi muttered inwardly. As one of the youngest members of the Elite Ten and the famed "God Tongue," Nakiri Erina had an overwhelming reputation across Japan's culinary world.
At the same time, however, her social circle was practically transparent. As far as Tadokoro Megumi knew, aside from Hisako Arato, there was almost no one her age who could even talk to her. Yet here was someone, seemingly outside the culinary world, calling her a friend.
"N-no, it's nothing… here's your change!"
Tadokoro Megumi handed the change over with both hands, then couldn't help asking, "Then what's the other friend's name?"
"The other one… not really a friend, more like an acquaintance. Probably a pretty noisy guy."
"Yukihira Soma, do you know him?"
Tadokoro Megumi's expression turned strange again. She pointed in a direction. "He's over there!"
Huh?
Sato looked over into the distance. Through the crowd, he really did spot a familiar head of red hair.
"So that guy came too."
"This course is required for all first-years. Originally, Nakiri-san was supposed to come as well, but she used her Elite Ten privileges to skip it."
"That does sound like something she'd do."
Sato couldn't help but smile, then waved to Tadokoro Megumi.
"Well then, see you. And… have confidence in your cooking. If you don't even believe in it yourself and stay nervous, you won't attract customers."
"G-goodbye!"
Tadokoro Megumi watched his departing figure in a daze.
...
[Yukihira Takoyaki]
Compared to the stall with the blue-haired girl earlier, this place had far more customers. It hadn't reached the point of needing a line, but there was a steady flow of people.
Part of that might be the appeal of takoyaki, but a large part came from the stall owner's overflowing enthusiasm.
"Customer, your takoyaki is ready!"
"Please come again!"
"Two servings of takoyaki!"
"Got it!"
Yukihira Soma had just lowered his head to start cooking when he suddenly looked up in surprise at the person in front of the stall.
"Nohara Sato?!"
"Yo! Has it really been that long? Do you need to be that surprised?"
Sato waved with a smile as he greeted him.
"Why are you here?!"
Perhaps because he hadn't seen a familiar face in a while, Yukihira Soma sounded pleasantly surprised.
"Isn't that obvious? What do you think I'm doing here in swim trunks? It's not like I've got some kind of exhibition fetish."
Sato rolled his eyes. This guy was still the same idiot as always.
"Hahaha! Fair point!"
Yukihira Soma laughed, scratching his head.
"How are your results?"
"Not bad. Huh? How did you know?"
"I ran into someone from your academy earlier. Said all the first-years are participating in this course."
"I see!"
"Speaking of which, it's been a while. How about you treat me?"
"Get lost!"
Yukihira Soma's face darkened slightly. Did you come here just to mess with me? Sales performance counts toward the score!