Yukihira Soma wasn't Joichiro's only choice to send to Tootsuki Academy; he originally wanted to send his oldest son too, one Yukihira Kyou. Unfortunately, Kyou hates cooking with a passion – but when he's rejected from his dream college of Tokyo U, he finds himself enrolling at Tootsuki with his younger brother.

I.

It was common knowledge that one Yukihira Kyou absolutely despised cooking.

No one knew what caused this sudden hatred, only that one day, young Kyou decided that he could never cook again – and up until a few days ago, he had made good on that promise even going so far as to eat take-out food whenever his father or younger brother weren't around to cook.

So, how did he wind up staring down the extravagant gates of Japan's finest culinary institute?

Well, it all started a few days ago when he was rejected - of all things - from Tokyo C&P Academy – a high school that specialized in psychology and criminology for aspiring detectives and law enforcement.

Kyou had put all his time and effort into applying for Tokyo C&P – because of course he was going to get accepted! He had numerous academic honors and awards, many lengthy written recommendations from his teachers, perfect grades, and a stellar list extracurricular activities yet he was still rejected!

He seriously suspects foul play of some kind.

Maybe the examiners got his name confused with another applicant? Or maybe someone got jealous of his academic achievements and decided he would 'overshadow' the other students? Well, whatever happened, Kyou was now missing a respectable school to attend.

Desperate and needing a good school to attend – how was he going to possible attend Tokyo U if he went to some second (or even third!) rate high school?! – his father recommended that he apply for… Tootsuki Academy, of all places.

Kyou refused, of course he did - he loathed the very notionof being in the kitchen once more; but his father had made a rather… compelling argument: if Kyou couldn't get into his dream career the 'traditional' way, why not try a different approach?

"Cooking can open up doors you'd never dream would be possible," his father had said.

It was that idea – that hope – that made Kyou agree to take the entrance exam, but now that he was actually at Tootsuki Academy… he was having serious second-thoughts about this whole thing.

He certainly didn't look out of place among the other hopeful candidates. No, dressed in a pressed teal-blue shirt under a brown-vest and white-blazer combo, with dark slacks and dress shoes on, his long curly auburn hair neatly (well as neatly as one could make it) styled, and his golden-yellow eyes partially hidden behind a pair of thick, white-rimmed glasses, he definitely fit in with the other dozens of well-dressed applicants.

His younger brother, on the other hand, not so much.

Sparing a glance at Yukihira Soma – the two of them could not look anymore different – Kyou let out sigh. Soma was just wearing his middle school's uniform – not even semi-neatly, he might add! – with the top buttons of his shirt undone, jacket wide open, and his bright red hair a complete mess.

"Why couldn't you have at least tried to be a bit more presentable, Soma?" Kyou asked in quiet murmur as the two brothers made their way to the front of the executive building.

"Hey! I thought this was gonna be some small, regular school or something! Not some freaking labyrinth of a campus with limos and bodyguards!" Soma snapped back, eyes constantly moving around from the opulent building looming ahead to the other candidates to the massive fields of well-kept grass and flowerbeds dotting the path.

"I thought you of all people would know that Tootsuki Academy is the highest ranking culinary school in all of Japan – and some say, the world."

Soma's reply of, "I've never even heard of them before," elicited a bark of laughter from the older teen.

"And you're the one who wants to the best chef in the family, Soma? You need to start paying attention to places like this." Kyou said with a shake of his head.

Soma would have replied but the two of them reached the edges of a rather large crowd. "What's going on?" The red-haired teen wondered, leaning up to try and get a better view.

Suddenly, a panic swept through the crowd of teens and they began… running away? 'They all look positively terrified.' Kyou noted. 'But why? What could have caused this type of hysteria?'

Once the rest of the group had left – both Kyou and Soma could see two Tootsuki students – a busty blonde and a stern looking rosette - standing in front of a large cart of ingredients.

"Hmph… useless pieces of garbage…," the blonde student says with a toss of her long mane, "Come, Hisako, we have to let the higher-ups know that this year's number of applicants is zero."

"Of course, Erina-sama."

"Um… actually we want to apply." Soma interjects with serious expression and a half-raised hand.

The rose-haired girl – Hisako, apparently – steps forward with a condescending expression on her face. "Are yousure? Do you even know who this is?" She gestures to the blonde standing next to her. "She's-"

"Nakiri Erina. The youngest member of the Toostuki's Elite Ten and the 'supposed' owner of 'God's Tongue' with grants you the apparent 'ability' to taste and correctly identify each ingredient used in and the time it took or takes to cook a dish. Quite impressive, however, rumor has it that a single misstep or critique from you is enough to ruin a budding chef's entire reputation and dream – how utterly terrifying." Kyou drawls in a semi-mocking tone of voice. "Though if your intimidation tactic and utter dismissal of the other applicants is anything to go by, you strike me as either a very arrogant woman or someone's too lazy to properly conduct this simple examination."

"How dareyou insult Erina-sa-"

Kyou continues on talking, completely ignoring Hisako's outburst and the subsequent anger blooming on the blonde's face. "Perhaps you are simply too entitled and stuck-up to actually guide and critique hopeful chefs? Not a good image of the Nakiri Family, if you ask me. Or perhaps you are frightened of something? Eating 'lower-class cuisine', maybe? Or are you scared of the thought of someone preparing you a dish that you may actually enjoy? If that is the case, then I must ask for a different examiner, as it appears to me that you are too biased to properly grade any dish we may make."

"H-How dare you call me 'biased' and 'stuck-up'?!" Erina yells, glaring at the older Yukihira.

Kyou shrugs. "Well, from my perspective, it is true seeing as how you refused to even test the other applicants."

"Y-You two fail! I will not allow the likes of you two to enter Tootsuki Academy!"

Kyou's golden-eyes narrow. "Punishing the two of us for my words? How noble of you, Erina-san. Let me ask you this: what would the upper management of Tootsuki Academy think when several dozenpotential applicants lodge complaints with the application process being changed without any prior notice?"

"I-I don't what you're talking about…!"

"Oh really? The Tootsuki Academy application process is supposed to consist of three parts: a group interview with up to ten candidates per interview, a showcase of the applicant's cooking skill by having him or her prepare three dishes following a random theme, then a written test testing the candidate's cooking knowledge. If all three sections are passed, then the student is automatically accepted into the academy. Failure to notify the potential applicants of any change to the process at least a week in advanced may result in the examiner's and any staff member associated with the examiner," A sharp look at Hisako, "suspension from the Academy – and if enough complaints are filed – expulsion from Tootsuki. I wonder what the Nakiri Family, and others, would say if the Great Erina-sama was publically expelled for not following the Tootsuki Academy procedures which, by the way, her ownfamilywere the ones to put into effect over seventy-five years ago. I bet you would lose a lot of face in the culinary world and people may even begin to wonder if you only got your position and reputation from your family's vast influence and monetary might. Not a good scenario for you, Erina-sama."

The silence in the courtyard is deafening.

"Woah…" Soma breathes in shock and awe. "You got all that from just meeting her two minutes ago?!"

Kyou scoffs, pushing up his glasses. "Of course not, Soma, but, one has to come prepared for anything that might happen. Which brings us to the conclusion of this whole debacle: I request a new examiner citing that you, Erina-san, are biased and in contempt of the examinees."

"R-Requesting for a new examiner will t-take some time…" Hisako says hesitantly.

"I will be the new examiner," a new voice cuts in.

The group of teens turns and sees an old – but well fit – man walking towards them. He has long white hair and is dressed in a simple stripped yukata.

"G-Grandfather?!" Erina exclaims in surprise.

Nakiri Senzaemon, the current Head of the Tootsuki Academy approaches the group. "I couldn't help but overhear your observations and concerns towards my granddaughter, lad."

"… I feel that she would not give my brother or me a fair judgment." Kyou answers.

Senzaemon doesn't reply, instead he walks over to the extensive cart of ingredients and selects a single egg. "Prepare for me a dish using eggs for your test."

Kyou starts, "But that's not-"

"Listen to me, Son," Senzaemon looms over the eldest Yukihira, "you are intelligent, I'll give you that, but here at Tootsuki Academy, we only value one thing: one's cooking ability. Show me that you have the skill to back up your talk."

The auburn-haired teen clenched his jaw before nodding tersely and following the older man into an unused kitchen.

"You two must prepare different dishes from one another using eggs as one of the ingredients. You have no time-limit. Begin."

Kyou spares his brother a single glance before moving to the adjacent kitchen space. He's confident that Soma will pass the test easily, him on the other hand… 'Has is really been ten years since I've last been in the kitchen?' Kyou thinks with a rueful smile.

Sharp golden-eyes scan the nearby cabinets and shelves before settling on a few ingredients. 'Perhaps I'll make that…' Kyou quickly gathers up the necessary ingredients before beginning to cook.

II.

An hour and half later, Yukihira Kyou present Nakiri Senzaemon… a sandwich.

"Y-You took ninety minutes to prepare a sandwich?!" Hisako exclaims in a mix of outrage and disbelief.

"A pita sandwich, to be more precise," Kyou calmly replies. "Nakiri-san, if you would."

Senzaemon eyes the simple-looking dish before picking it up and taking a bite. His eyes widen as a burst of nutty flavor explodes in his mouth.

"I grilled purple eggplants in canola oil to impart a nutty flavor on it; then to enhance the nuttiness; I mixed together tahini and minced garlic to create the paste on the bottom of the sandwich. To counter-balance the heaviness of the paste, I chopped up fresh Kirby cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions and seasoned that with lemon juice and salt and pepper. The slight bit of sweetness you taste, is from the boiled egg - which I steeped in a fruit tea and yellow onion mix for an hour."

Senzaemon nodded. "You also used a mild amba sauce to further enhance the sweetness of the eggs, did you not?"

"I did, normally amba is supposed to be sweet and spicy, but I felt that the spiciness would overpower the nutty flavor of the eggplant and tahini paste, so I made a milder version using a mango puree mixed with mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, and a little bit of ground fenugreek."

"The pita bread was an excellent choice to house the other ingredients."

"Yes, since pita bread is much thinner than regular white - or even wheat bread – it allows the full flavors of the other ingredients to shine through. Plus, pita bread makes it easier to eat since the ingredients won't fall out like they would if put between two slices of bread."

Senzaemon nodded once more. "Impressive, both you and your brother are certainly impressive. Very well then, you both pass," he declared.

"It was nothing!" Soma cheered, clapping his brother on the back.

"Hmph… it was expected." Kyou murmured, pushing up his glasses.

"G-Grandfather! How could you pass them?!" Erina demanded, pointing at the two celebrating brothers – well, Soma was the only one cheering; Kyou was just standing there impassively.

"Like I said earlier, Erina, Tootsuki only cares about a person's cooking ability. Wealth, education, ethnicity… we overlook all those traits to determine how well one can or cannot cook; and these two can cook."

'Although…,' the Head of Tootsuki glanced at the sandwich Kyou had made, 'I can see why you made your oldest enroll here, Joichiro…' A glance to the teen in question. 'He is missing something, something he can hopefully regain during his time here at Tootsuki Academy.'