When she sat up, Soma could not help but stare. She was undeniably beautiful, not to mention that her wet orange hair could barely cover her ample breasts and from the way that she stuck her chest out, she didn't seem to care. And the fierce look in her violet eyes only added to the attraction.

He kept his eyes glued on her, and at the same time tried his best not to appear to be staring anywhere else but her eyes. He took a deep breath and started talking. He wanted to know whether she really would be a judge in the Shokugeki next week.

She appeared to contemplate his question, but he decided that he could not stay any longer if he'd like to keep his mind, and not the wrong head, working, so he just added, in his usual confident tone,

"Well, if it's true, I'm just here to tell you that I will serve you the most delicious food you've ever had, and you will have no choice but to say, 'Delicious!' or you'll just be speechless."

At that, she was obviously inflamed, that her face was almost as bright scarlet as her hair.

She resumed her calm a few minutes later and delivered the challenge.

"Words, words, words. Proofs are what counts, human."

Was she always this condescending? he thought.

He didn't mind being called "Human" because he was one, but he found it quite amusing to talk back, so he told her his name without being asked.

As expected, she broke off the eye contact and acted as if she couldn't care less about who he was. It was really amusing to him how she tried so hard to act unaffected.

Each moment that passed only seemed to make her more beautiful. She was cute, he admitted to himself.

He couldn't help but laugh and thought that he really must go.

"See you next week, Nakiri," he said and then walked away.

When Soma got back to his dorms, Takumi opened the door and asked him where he'd been.

"Oh, just around."

"Have you thought about your dish for next week?" Takumi asked.

"Eh? Not really."

He never really thought about it until Takumi asked. He decided he had plenty of time to think about it. Besides, he needed to take a cold shower for a certain orange-haired, violet-eyed mermaid is recalled back to mind.

After his shower, Soma felt the exhaustion and fell asleep. He woke up to the delicious aroma of, he guessed, Hayama's spices. He poked his head out the door and saw Hayama busily stirring the pot, a spoon midway to his mouth.

"Curry for dinner, huh?" He stepped out into the hall.

"Who said you can have any?" Hayama teased.

"Well, I surely won't be begging for it," Ryo suddenly said, joining them in the kitchen.

"Sure you won't regret those words later?" Hayama said, his eyebrows raised.

Several minutes later, Hayama brought the pot to the table, while Takumi arranged the plates and silverware.

No sooner than the pot touched the surface of the table, Soma scooped a spoonful of the steaming curry into his mouth, and said loudly with his mouth full, "Itadakimasu," or more like "Istakmmas"

They all laughed around the table and started devouring Hayama's curry.

After they finished eating, Isami volunteered to wash the dishes while everyone else stayed seated on the table, talking.

"Hey, Hayama. Are you going to be serving curry next week?" Soma asked.

"Originally, I was thinking about it. But while I was helping out Jun earlier, I discovered some new spices that I might want to try using for something else. I'm just not sure what yet."

"How about you, Takumi? Did you think about what you will make?"

"I decided on Beef Rigatoni." Then Soma said, "Just make sure you leave some for me!"

"Isami, what about you?" Takumi asked his brother.

"I don't think I will be participating. I have a few exams coming up that I have to prepare for. Sorry."

Takumi nodded, "I guess that leaves just us four."

"What do you mean?" asked Soma.

"The news had spread about Erina judging the Shokugeki, so everyone who was originally going to participate had some sense to back out the last minute," Hayama explained.

Soma then stood up from his seat, "I guess I better buy some ingredients so I can start testing out a few dishes. Anyone?"

"Let's go!" Takumi said, and all five, including Isami, headed out.

After several hours of walking and shopping around, the group of friends was finally satisfied with their purchases, their arms occupied with brown bags filled with various fresh ingredients and an assortment of spices.

When they got home, the bags were carried to the dinner table and some laid on the counter.

"I'd like to pick up some spices from the lab," Hayama called out from the door.

Isami rubbed his eyes and said, "I better catch some sleep for now. I'll see you guys later." He then walked down the hall to his room.

Meanwhile, Soma started cracking up some eggs into a large bowl and beating them. In a few seconds, he had diced tomatoes, onions, and garlic and set them aside. The oil on the pan started to heat up so he added in the diced ingredients, and when they were golden brown, he poured in the eggs. He flipped the eggs immediately to preserve some of the moisture, and the next moment he was scooping it into his plate.

Although it smelled great and tasted good, well, good was not good enough. Not as a Totsuki student, and especially not when you would be judged by a mermaid named Nakiri Erina. Not to mention that he'd already confidently promised to render her speechless. But it was too late to second guess himself. Besides, Soma had long learned to get rid of that bad habit.

For now, all he needed is more practice. And maybe some help from his friends.