His Children

In front of a huge school...

'Nee, are we gonna be OK, Soma-nii?' in front of a school were two teenagers. One older male and one younger female. 'Tousan closed the shop and marooned us here.'

'Tche, we already know how to cook so I really don't see the point...what a waste of time but he already enrolled us in.' Soma, the older male with wine-red hair grumbled.

'I agree, we're way better but what's done is done. We gotta do this. I wanted to go to school with my friends but nooo, its gotta be here.' the younger girl sulked. Soma patted the younger girl's head.

'Maa maa, as you say, we gotta go along with this.' Soma sighed. 'Let's go. You and I will do different tests, Rei.'

'Yup. I go for my interview.' said Rei. 'See ya later, niichan, I'll call you when I'm done.'

'Ou.' and they parted ways.

While Soma faced a cooking exam, Rei underwent an Interview before cooking. She was grouped with four others. When her turn came...

'So how about you Yukihira-san, what made you want to join this school?' an admin asked her.

'Daddy says we don't have a chance in hell of defeating him in cooking if we don't graduate here!' Rei huffed irritably as she showed the admin a family photo of her, Soma and their father that got the admins choking.

'HE is your father?!'

'Yep...what about him?'

'Kid, you'll really have to graduate AND be in the Elite Ten if you ever want to defeat him.' a female admin deadpanned. 'He is this school's former 2nd Seat known worldwide!'

Several pairs of eyes popped.

'HE DIDN'T TELL US ANYTHING!' Rei freaked out, hands gripping the hair on the sides of her head and her eyes going 'ocular gushers'.

'Time for the second and final Admission Test! Cooking! You must score 70 from each of us!'

So Rei got cooking.

While the other kids her age are sort of slow, she was fast in Ingredient Preparation. After washing her ingredients, her knifework was fast and quick, and worked like a pro that she was the first to get her dish cooked. Its a...cold Noodle Dish with egg toppings.

'Here.'

'What is this dish, Yukihira-san?' Admin#2 asked her.

'They're what I call 'noodles, but not noodles'.' said Rei. 'I mashed boiled potatoes, put them in a noodle-making machine and chucked them in icy-cold water to firm them up to stay as noodles. Hot water would've destroyed the 'noodle quality' otherwise. Noodles aren't noodles without elasticity after all. Icy water shrinks them and makes it elastic. Mock Potato Noodle Soup in Cold Broth.'

'Jeez, you could have just used the noodles on stock...' Admin#1 sweatdropped as they picked up some noodles and looked at it. 'But I can't believe Potato Noodles can look so beautifully clear!'

'Let's begin deliberation.' said Admin#3 as they tasted both noodle and soup.

'What an amazing texture...this is potatoes?!' Admin#1 gasped out. 'Its as firm and elastic as noodles! But its pure potato! I can't believe this!'

'The soup is spicy but delicious, balanced with the cold broth.' said Admin#3. 'The combination of spices to great this deliciousness is excellent without making eaters breathe fire out.'

'Yes...sweet and spicy.' said Admin#2. 'For the life of me I can't identify it. The noodles is slightly sweet.'

'Huh? Sweet?' Admin#1 frowned as he and #3 tasted again carefully. 'Y-you're right...'

'Yukihira-san, what is the sweetness in the potato noodles?' Admin#3 asked her.

'Its pumpkin.' said Rei. 'I put in a teeny-tiny amount so the potato flavor would stand out while supported by sweetness that also goes well with my spicy soup.'

'I see...this dish will be deliberated upon in one minute. Return to your station.'

She got...100 and is officially enrolled.

'You are accepted in this Institute!'

"Now, I wonder how my brother did..." Rei thought as she finalized her enrollment into the school, such as paying for the fees and buying uniform and books.

'Okie dokie...I better call niichan if he got an In.' Rei mused as she dialled up a number while taking her new purchases away. 'Hello, niichan you done? Loudspeaker will you?'

/Eh? Not yet, the Examiner's tasting my cooking. Took me a while to get here its freaking far! How about you?/

'Judges gave me a 100~!' Rei chirped. 'They liked my dish!'

/Heee, that's great! I'm just about done here myself. Where are you now?/

'Gonna find us a sleeping space...I hear there's a lot of vacancy in Polar Star Dorm but I was told its full of weirdoes and oddballs.'

/Sounds good to me! We'll fit right in! Go ahead and secure us our rooms!/

'OK~!'

xxx

'What's that about?' Nakiri Erina demanded from Soma as she heard the conversation between this 'arrogant man' and what sounded like a little girl.

'Oh, that's my li'l sis, scoring 100 from her Interview!' Soma grinned, pocketing his smartphone. 'She's gonna find us a dorm now and secure us some rooms before school next month since she finished first.'

"Probably yet another commoner dish, how on earth can they pass these common fare?!" the young woman twitched before tasting Soma's Transforming Furikake Gohan.

xxx

Polar Star Dorm...

Rei arrived, carrying some groceries. Her instincts told her to.

She came upon a dorm overrun with climbing weeds on walls and looked...haunted. '...what IS this?' she sweatdropped as she knocked...and saw a grandma that spooked her upon first appearance. 'Hiiiiieeeee!'

'Welcome...' she spoke in a rough tone just like a witch in a bid to intimidate her. 'I'm this Dorm's Dorm Mother, Polar Star's Maria. Call me Fumio-san. I hear you're one of the siblings?'

'Um, yeah.' said Rei. 'I was gonna secure two rooms while he's still being tested. The testing places for middle and high school are so far apart I ended up finishing first.'

'You look prepared. Good good.' Fumio grinned. 'Time for a Skill Test!'

'Lemme guess...cook to impress?'

'Indeed!' Fumio nodded. 'Now, impress me, Yukihira Rei! By the way, your brother has to do this too. Entrants who impress me can choose any room they like! Early bird gets the early worm!'

Rei quickly whipped out her phone...

xxx

On the way out, Soma got his phone out, still shocked that he got flunked, not noticing the huge shadow in hiding, tasting his cooking that was left behind on the counter when Erina and Hisako left. His phone beeped. "Uh-oh..." 'Rei?'

/Niichan, you gotta get here to the dorm!/ said Rei. /To get a room, we have to impress the landlady!/

/That's DORM MOTHER Yukihira-chan!/ Fumio called out insistently.

/Ehhh they're the same thing! I can choose our rooms but we gotta earn it separately! Gotta get cooking and score our rooms!/ and she hung up.

'...sorry Rei, but that girl flunked me...I'm going home instead. Man, how am I gonna tell you and dad?'

xxx

Nakiri Senzaemon sighed, shaking his head.

He hid in the shadows when Joichiro told him he chucked his kids to school. His son and an adoptive daughter. He had tasted the remaining Mock Potato Noodles of the daughter and its THAT good. And so was the Furikake Gohan though his grandchild flunked him out of pride.

Well, he'll have his secretary deliver the speedy TRUE result to Yukihira Diner before the boy gets home.

xxx

Oblivious to what's going on, Rei cooked to score and reserve two rooms.

She made a Scallop Carpaccio with choice herbs and sauce.

'Here you are lady!' Rei put down a large plate of an artistic Scallop Carpaccio.

'Oi oi, you expect me to eat all this by myself?!' Fumio sputtered, seeing so many scallops enough for a party.

'Think of it as dinner then!'

Fumio snorted, before taking a scallop with a fork, ensuring it gets a dollop of sauce and took a bite... "Mmm! Pure Scallop taste preserved due to cooking it under low flame, biting it is perfectly chewy matched with ponzu and spices dressing...delicious!" she swore as she swallowed. 'Fuhaaa...' she gasped in bliss. 'You pass kid! You can choose your room! BUT! Rooms are free but if you want to use a workshop you'll have to pay monthly for the rent!'

'Huh? I didn't know you can rent workshops.'

'Now you do.'

xxx

Yukihira Diner, some time later...

Soma got home, still wondering what to do when he noticed an envelope taped to the shutters of the diner. "Mm?" it was addressed to him at that and inside was his enrollment actually done and over with. "Wha-? Didn't I get an F?!" he also found a letter.

I was around during the Admission Exams in hopes of seeing
new talents. Your sister's Mock Potato Noodle Soup was very
good and so is your Transforming Furikake Gohan. But she is
quite the prideful one that hindered proper judgment and got
biased, effectively failing as a proctor so I revoked her word.

By the way, learn Gourmet Cuisine. Your sister is a step ahead
of you in that regard. Her schtick seems to be Playing with Food
while still making it Gourmet Cuisine.

-Headmaster

'Phew...so I have no worries after all.' Soma sighed in relief before his eyes lit up in fire. 'I'll make you swear its good next time we meet!'

Now to whip up a good excuse to his sister as to why he didn't show up.

An hour and half later...

'Mou! You should have showed up!' Rei fumed. 'Lucky you I managed to reserve your room but you're gonna have to earn it when school starts! You'll have to bring ingredients for your Impression Dish since that old lady won't admit sucky residents.'

'Hai hai, I got it.' said Soma. 'I opened up the restaurant again since I kinda wanted to enjoy working before we close during school months.'

'I guess so...'

'By the way, what'd you make for your entrance test?' Soma asked, already knowing the answer. 'I wanna eat it!'

'Yes yes, but can you go buy me what I need for that? That school killed my feet I need to rest if you want me to make you noodles!'

'Hai hai~!'