Vol 3 Chapter 32 (1/2)
3-2 Wild Fire
029 - ♥07
Ashair was in the way, I had it tied at the back of my head
I had alondered why The Cooking Club has a ”The” as a part of its name
That question was instantly answered by its president
”So Club, leading to its disbandistered under this new name instead”
They seeh a lot
Having been invited by fukube-san, I was now participating in The Cooking Club's tournae na, one would quickly understand why such a name was used The Wild Fire tournament does not take place in the Home Economics Room, but outside on the track field
The tables for the makeshi+ft kitchen counters were quite narrow, and use of water was to be lied stoves on each counter It is certainly strange in appearance, but on the other hand, it also meant any observer would instantly knohat it was
Besides, as this tournament involves teams of three people
”Mayaka-san sure is late”
The deadline for accepting entries has finished, and there's only three minutes till 11:30, when the tournament would officially coly calm
”Each team member has twenty minutes, so we'll just put Mayaka last If she still doesn't couess that's too bad We're only here to promote ourselves anyway, so it doesn't matter whether in or not”
While he's quite right, I still continued to glance towards the field entrance
A male student's voice spoke from behind us
”Doesn't matter whether you win or not? That's hardly fun at all, fukube!”
Could he be a friend of fukube-san? I've not seen him before
Though fukube-san was usually energetic, perhaps even he was getting exhausted fro the tourna to his friend
”Nah, we'll be giving our all”
Though his friend did not seem to mind a bit and smiled
”At any rate, this rule of having three people on a tea isn't up to snuff, I'll still be well covered by the other two teaotta plan ahead accordingly”
”Isn't that the same for all team tournaments?”
”Anyway, have you found yourself soot Suhara, who's the son of the chef of Miraku on Main Street”
”Ah, so I've heard”
”And I'm on that team”
fukube-san gave an auous smile
”Wow, that's great May the best team win then”
Just as I thought, soe The fukube-san that I knoould have been ood spirits and returned to his teaently called out to fukube-san
”fukube-san are you feeling all right?”
The person who turned around was the usual fukube-san,
”How a some of fukube's Seafood Fried Rice today!”
Looks like I've been thinking too much into this I smiled
”I'll be looking forward to it I don't know if I', but we're only allowed to cook rice fro to make fried rice, wouldn't you have to cook last in order to properly prepare?”
fukube-san doesn't look too lively As expected, perhaps his exhaustion is beginning to show on his face
An iathered, about a hundred to two hundred, perhaps evento cook dishes in front of this
”Um if Mayaka-san is to cook last, ill cook first then?”
”Honna make rice, so maybe you should cook first”
”But it'll take more than an hour to prepare the rice, that would be too”
I wasn't able to explain myself properly, but perhaps fukube-san realized it froaze
He replied, ”Fine, I'll cook first Guess that's it for fukube's Seafood Fried Rice I can make that anytime!”
Oh no, you don't really have to say it so clearly
Beside theClub's president walked on and began to explain the rules With a loud voice, he began to introduce the participating teams
”We have a total of five teams who've entered the tournament, but as we only have four counters, only the first four teaet to compete for the Wild Fire Cup
”And now, the teams themselves Entry No 1: Team Ajiyoshi+!”
It was a tealance at theernails Could it be that they rarely cook?
”Entry No 2: Teaana!”
It was the team fukube-san's friend was in One of them looked quite calm and reserved Perhaps he's the chef's son from Miraku
”Entry No 3: Team Astronomy Club!”
Huh? It seems there's another club who thinks just like fukube-san did and participated One of their reet the audience We've uchi-san, as dressed in her usual chignon hairstyle Oh, she even threw a kiss to the audience She seeh opponent
”Entry No 4: Team Classics Club!”
fukube-san puht fist into the air I was at a loss for what to do, but still, I decided to bow respectfully to the audience around us
”The rules have been well explained in advance Each tearedients are available in the basket in the centre of the field on a first-coet cases of participants only getting rice, so please plan what you need beforehand If the ingredient basket has run out, you are allowed to procure ingredients within the confines of Ka sweet potatoes today, you know?”
Oh, I see As the ingredients are first-come-first-serve, it would be better for the first contestant to prepare the ingredients for his tea first, as I would easily get overwhelmed by too many choices
”And now, first participants, on your positions”
”Well, I'll be going”
fukube-san waved his ar up the makeshi+ft counter The four counters were set up in such a way that they surrounded the ingredients in the centre
The Cooking Club president raised his voice from the podium
”Wild Fire: START!”
The ingredients fukube-san procured were three cups of rice, one bag of dried sardines, a bit of frying oil, a bottle of sweet vinegar ginger, four blocks of tofu, half a radish, three spring onions, six potatoes, a bit of black sesa of sliced pork, one pack of sweet prawns, and a packet of potato starch As for seasonings and spices like miso, soy sauce, wasabi, chili pepper, it seems like there is no limit on how much we can use them
fukube-san thought deeply for a bit before proceeding to boil a pot of water Using the ti onions Taking one of the three spring onions he'd procured, he began to chop theh not as fast as professionals would chop them It hardly looked hazardous He next took out the dried sardines Ah, so he's preparing miso soup
Observing fro on behalf of the audience
”Oh, looks like Tea out the intestines of the sardines one by one! This is a very important step!”
After taking out the sardines' intestines, he began cutting up the radish into smaller pieces
Wait, Fu-fukube-san! There's no probleotten to peel its skin! But team members are not allowed to speak while their tea The radish!+ The radish!+ I tried to motion my body in order to let him know The radish!+
After cutting up all the pieces, he finally seems to have noticed and took out a peeler Oh dear! He's peeling the skin off the small pieces he just cut one by one! But if you do that, they'll become too dry by the time you put them into the hot water!
After peeling off the radish skin, he placed the dried sardines aside Though as he'd taken care of its innards, it shouldn't smell anymore fukube-san next turned his attention to the sliced pork He walked to the centre to obtain some miso paste Of the three types of miso: red, white and koji, he had chosen white By now, even I knehat he was planning to make, and it was not plain miso soup He now held a ular spoon in his right
Twenty minutes passed and on the stove of our kitchen counter was a pot of pork miso soup
”Twenty minutes is up! Please swap places now”
fukube-san ran back towards where we sat, and the first thing he said was, ”Didn't go as well as I thought!”
”The peeling of the skin?”
fukube-san shook his head
”Yeah that as well, but if I'm to make porkcare of the sardine innards! That took up a lot of time”
He was right, we cannot afford to waste that much time
”I-I' on you, Chitanda-san”
I nodded
Please leave it to me
030 - ♣10
And just when I ondering how Chitanda-san's cooking would fare
She's fast! Not just in her s as well Despite the narrow space around her, she h she has many limbs Even the commentator is astounded
”What on earth is going on with Teauchi? Just what is she ? Whoa! Look at the superb way Tea the radish skin!”
Before time, the radish skin has been peeled into what see onion on the chopping board while preparing the sweet vinegar ginger How does Chitanda-san e to entle?
Using the thin radish pieces, she wrapped the them on the dish That's one dish complete damn, and it's only been two minutes since she started
It was then that Chitanda-san suddenly stopped oing on, she began ain ”Ah yes, the rice” Phew, that's the Chitanda-san I know
Though she had only started to wash the rice, the way she washed it was incredibly thorough
”Tea their ti up every ounce of the six litres of water allocated to the out the best taste in their rice, the Classics Club are cutting no corners with their resources! Look properly, that's the way you wash your rice, by slowly draining the water with your hands!”
She was gentle, yet fast Upon deciding on the aht it to boil and then turned her attention elsewhere
”Team Ajiyoshi+ has finished their second dish ofa variety of ana's teriyaki is going smoothly!”
Chitanda-san's movement became more and more intense She wrapped the tofu with a cloth and placed it in a bowl, then sprinkled salt and sugar on it while war up the pan, she was frying the black sesame seeds with oil She then placed and spread the tofu evenly across the pan The commentary went ballistic
”Oh iseyaki! I am so moved to tears by Team Classics Club's Chitanda!”
Sounds like a dish I've never heard of before
Chitanda-san next began to peel the potato skin while occasionally turning to tend to the frying pan After peeling the potato skin, she took the tofu out of the pan It now had an i board Cutting up the tofu, she placed it on another dish That's the second dish completed
I could already sar as well as the fried sesa that myself!
”A sweet scent is co from the dish of Team Classics Club! How formidable, for them to impress just by scent alone!”
Meanwhile, a sweet smell of roasted soy sauce came from Tani-kun's team
”Teaana has also finished their teriyaki The colour looks superb One cannot think of these people as mere students Just who are they?!”
You're dealing with Lady Chitanda Eru, daughter of the Chitanda far clan! Remember her name!
There was no ti pan As soon as she filled the pot ater and brought it to boil, without waiting she went straight for the sweet prawns, speedily re their shells She then turned the fire dohen the rice began to boil And when the pot of hot water started boiling, she threw in the sweet potatoes Taking souess that's the way to prepare sweet prawns
Meanwhile, she briefly cleaned the bowl that held the tofu a while ago and placed the starch in it I wonder what she's up to now Feeling curious, I decided to look on
Though the potatoes were now boiled, she didn't discard the soup right away Using a pair of chopsticks and the miso spoon, she skillfully scooped the contents out After draining the the starch and began grinding therinding stuff? Starch and boiled potatoes, just as shesure is complicated People who possess theafter all I' the white stuff that ean squeezing them into lumps She then dumped the lumps back into the soup
”It see with their Avant-Garde cooking, I pray for the health of our judges Whoa, Team Classics Club has just made ioing to be okay?”
Imo-mochi, huh? I like that a lot By the way, howat my watch, we still have twoabout the time if we're short on it?
Looking at the kitchen counter, I see a row of dishes being lined up, as well as a row of utensils, and the dishes now being prepared, and then the ingredients
”AHH-~!”
I yelled And instantly,
”Whoa there, Tea is allowed”
damn, this is bad
That's it, there's still time to let her know! This is really bad Chitanda-san has rave error But can it be resolved? I crosseda mistake
Chitanda-san seeesture, has she realized?
She gave a gentle smile and crossed her arms as well
””
Looks like we're unable to communicate at all
It's useless Even if she were to realize, nothing could be done about it
The i them on a small plate, she applied some soy-sauce over them
And right on cue, ”Forty e with your final member now,” said the announcement
”How do you think I did?”
Despite ue and s I could never do what she had accomplished
”You were a, Chitanda-san I never knew you could cook that well”
Chitanda-san said shyly, ”Is that so? I really like cooking”
”Yeah, I can see that But”
”But?”
Her expression became clouded
”Did so?”
The Cooking Club president commentated,
”Team Classics Club's final member has yet to appear! And to think they performed so superbly until now”
”Chitanda-san, this is a three-person team”
”Of course I'm worried for Mayaka-san”
”No, even if she had come”
I pointed towards the makeshi+ft kitchen counter that Chitanda-san had just worked vigorously on
On there was a pot of cooking rice, radish rolls filled with ginger and spring onions, giseyaki, imo-mochi, sweet prawn sashi+mi and pork miso soup
Chitanda-san looked lively, as ere looking at her ht, and then looked left again Then she covered her mouth
”OH!”
Even if it were a joke, it was hardly funny The only ingredients re were a radish with its skin peeled, and a little bit of spring onion left behind It was as good as trash
Hahaha, sorry about that, Mayaka
031 - ♦06
If I had had more time, I would have drawn it better, but even if this was speed drawing I would still prefer to get it perfect, and so I ended up re-doing the fine details that I wasn't too happy with over and over again I realized it was past the time I promised to meet up with fuku-chan, but if I don't fix the shape of this eye over here, it'll look way too unbalanced
That said, it wasn't easy just deciding where to redo With all my resolve, I worked on those parts with my pen and eraser, and time flew by before I even realized
”I'm done!”
Kouchi-se of a sirl
”It doesn't look coh,” she muttered
During these two and a half hours, we've drawn five standing portraits and eight facial portraits While its not a nu our speed, it's still quite a lot Though I wasany defects I see as well as coo noas told I could still make it if I arrive at 12 noon, but it's now been over ten minutes since then
Rolling up the posters, President Yuasa said, ”Thank you Ibara I'h you had an appointment”
As president, she didn't need to do any drawing, and was s over to the sales booth to display I gave the president my respects and duly bolted out of Preparation Room No 1
Instantly, I was engulfed by the atmosphere of the Cultural Festival The whole corridor was covered with advertise about in a relaxed aps that they created, it was in these ure came in handy
While I could not pay attention to the ti the posters, like the Quiz Club's tourna on at the track field from the speakers
”Tea the apple skins But is this how you peel apple skins? They'reshape out of it! Team Classics Club's final member has yet to appear”
I slid across the corridor to hts of stairs that were pasted with posters Having to change into my outdoor shoes by the shoe lockers was botherso on my shoes At the end of a line of white posters was the dazzling light of the sun There was a crowd gathered on the grounds, and I caught of gli towards me This was the first time I've seen her tie her hair behind her head
Just as I was thinking that, the crowd suddenly turned their gaze in unison towards irl in casual clothing be the final Team Classics Club member? Will she make it?”
For soan to applaud It was at this ht, I was still in my cosplay attire
I felt rumble I don't want to do this dressed up like this! That does it, if it has to be like this, then it can't be helped
I rushed towards the tournament venue to where Chi-chan was fuku-chan raised his aruy on the podium with a mic
”Judge! As our member is late, we request permission to explain the situation to her!”