AN: Since it's Merdeka, have another chapter.

-

"There's a whole variety of cuisine, a whole variety of chefs— but only a handful of you will go on to become the top chefs of our era."

For the Junior High section, classes end with the Moon Festival, the last big Tootsuki Event in the bountiful autumn season. After that, they get to go home and spend half the winter with their families.

"The difference between all of you and the chefs in the High School division? Direction. In this festival, and until the next year— I want all of you to figure out what kind of chef you want to be. What kind of cooking you want to specialize in. A category unique to only you, that only you can bring to its full potential."

Eda huffed. He knew from the start that he wanted to be a patissier, but that... most likely isn't enough. Having a food specialty is different from knowing what kind of chef, what kind of flavours you want to bring.

Even a startup shop has a unique business objective outside of monetary reward. There are people who want to spread culture, or adapt culture into local flavours. There are people who want to appeal to those with niche tastes. There are those who wish to create franchises.

In the past... she wanted pastry to be an art form— sculpting, marbling, layering, icing— she used as many techniques as she could travel the world to learn, and put them all into a new dish each month. Her success was borne of passion.

"As you know, the Advancement exam from JH Third Year to HS First Year will be a test with the highest failure rate of your lives at that point," the teacher continues. "And your performance there is determined by how much potential you have as a chef. So unless you find your direction now, in your late first-year to early second year— you'll fall behind. This school is all about kicking down the ones that can't keep up."

Eda listened to their teacher, Minase-sensei, and concluded that this school's absolute bonkers, but what else is new?

"Now that that's out of the way..."

The teacher scribbled something on the board. MOON FESTIVAL.

And tapped at it, turning around.

"Ideas for what our class is doing. Shoot."

The entire class leapt up and started shouting food at him.

-

For the kids in Junior High, most classes would be holding a booth supervised by their homeroom teachers. This helps guide the inexperienced students toward the expectations, risks, and planning process of eventually hosting a limited-time stall of their own when High School comes by.

Otherwise, they would go with their research societies to host a booth with their seniors.

You don't necessarily have to be in the society to join a booth hosted by it— and you aren't mandated to host one, either. But why waste the opportunity to build connections during the biggest tourist event of the year? Where influential names, millionaires, politicians all come along for a taste of your cuisine?

Yeah.

"And so, we Polar Star kids will be buying up the booth spaces near Shiomi-senpai's restaurant on Central Street, and selling a whole variety of curry cuisine! We'll call it the exclusive Polaris Curry Street!"

When Nakagawa-senpai declared that, somehow, Eda knew instantly he'd rather do this than whatever his class was doing.

"I'll have my own booth, of course, I have that Autumn Election Winner privilege," Nakagawa boasted, "since Shiomi-senpai is doing a sit-down restaurant, the rest of us are doing street food. As long as you follow the curry theme, you can suggest anything! We'll probably have to limit our menu, of course, but that's for the meeting this Friday evening."

"EH? You're asking Eda-chan that?" one of the other seniors gawked, "but he's more on the dessert side of things, you know. It'll be tough on him to have to match us."

"Uhhh," Eda faltered, "if street food is fine, I have something in mind, actually..."

"Really?"

"Ah, wait, let me ask if Shinomiya and the others wanna join, too."

-

"Of course! If I help my Western Cuisine Research Society, I'm stuck waiting tables," Sena was all for it. "Of course, that's an experience too, but I've done that before. I've never helped run a street food stall before."

"I don't really like markets..." Mizuhara seemed reluctant, "it's noisy and chaotic. But I also have great interest in studying spices under Shiomi-senpai. This might be our last opportunity to, since she's graduating soon."

"Of course I'm joining!" Shinomiya groaned when asked, because apparently, how dare you think otherwise, "I'm not doing anything with our damn class. Did you even hear how that bastard Suzuki took over the theme and operations? Just because his father owns an izakaya, everyone's worshipping him at his feet!"

The class was doing a Japanese diner. Suzuki Yousuke, Haruno's usual class partner, was heading the operations.

Eda took one look at the menu, and realized he would have to carry the kitchen through it. There were a decent amount of items for a diner, but for a limited-time restaurant hosted by kids with no serving experience? Disaster in the making. He would be yelling orders until he lost his voice, he wouldn't last a day much less five.

Minase-sensei seemed to have accepted his fate and made sure they at least don't end up with a deficit, but neither Eda nor Shinomiya wanted anything to do with it. Even if they did operate an entire diner by themselves during Summer break.

"I'd appreciate the experience, though..." Haruno admitted, "I'm a bit worried about the class. I think I should stay to work for our class' booth."

"Absolutely not!" Shinomiya snapped.

"If you want experience serving in a diner, you guys can come to Sumiredoori in the Winter," Eda grumbled, "it'll give you better experience, without that shithead ordering you around like a pack mule."

Shinomiya growled lower, "didn't he make you run all the way out to the convenience store outside school grounds yesterday? Twice? Because he forgot to include something in the list? Please, you'll most likely be rid of him next year when our classes are reassigned. If you aren't, I'll make sure of it."

"Shinomiya," Sena called, concerned, "no murder."

"Yeah," Mizuhara shrugged, "there are many witnesses."

"Don't worry, I have experience," Shinomiya continued, unfettered, "do you know what happens to bloodsuckers that try to buy your land in the countryside?"

"No?" Eda was absolutely concerned now.

Shinomiya turned away, "exactly."

Haruno proceeded to freak out, "Shinomiya-san, no!"

-

"All of us will be using one of Shiomi-senpai's curry roux as a base," Nakagawa explained, "you can do whatever you want to it as long as Shiomi-senpai approves, but that's a high hurdle. Are you sure you wanna try?"

That sounded like a challenge, and their youngests humbly refused the challenge.

"Curry isn't really my forte," Shinomiya says, "using vegetables is one thing, I don't know enough about spices to not make an everything-stew and call it a day."

"I'm content with taste-testing for now," Mizuhara says.

Sena agrees, "same, but can we use your roux to make test dishes in the meantime though? Just for fun?"

"I'm happy eating!" Haruno agrees, "curry is my soul food!"

They were the reasonable ones. They're way out of their league, and even if they did manage to make something satisfactory, it felt a little odd to take one of the seniors' booth spaces for themselves.

Not all of them were reasonable, though.

Eda was stuck in deep thought.

"Eda, whatever you're thinking, no."

"No but like," Eda insisted, only to be sharply interrupted.

"Dammit, Dunceda, NO!"

-

And that's how they all started baking curry puffs in the dorm.

"I can't even—" Shinomiya's stuffing his face and Haruno just squealed, "the curry is mindblowingly good on its own."

Eda choked on the first bite and frowned.

"Pepper," he coughed, "and dry. The oven was too high. The puff pastry just feels dusty against it. I'll need to remake it."

"Dusty?" Shinomiya asked, then, in a more bewildered tone, "all these words and you choose dusty??"

"It's good to me," Haruno offered, weakly.

"You baked the pastry perfectly, Eda-kun," Sena tried to assure, but Eda was already on his way to the next batch of dough. "But Shiomi-senpai made this curry to go better with naan, so it seems to overpower the mildly sweeter, flakier puff pastry."

"I mean, can we try making this out of naan?"

"Would that be any different from just dipping it normally? Or like, making a soft taco?"

"The crispy or flaky crust, and the put-together handheld feel is kind of the selling point of curry puffs, though... and EDA, NO—"

Mizuhara had been staring skeptically at Eda from the moment he reached for the fridge and started chopping apples, but by the time her fear sensors went off, it's already cubed and going into the curry.

"Shiomi-senpai's curry is already so complex! Why are you adding apples in it?!"

"And why apples??"

"Shiomi-senpai's curry is very Indian! Apples are a Japanese curry thing!"

Eda squeaked as all the first years dragged him back from the stove before he committed anymore crimes.

"But it might be okay! Apples are alright in curry! It'll even out the sharpness of the pepper and make it go better with the pastry, too!" Eda insisted, whining, "I've eaten them before!"

Sena sighed, "and how did it taste?"

Eda choked.

"Probably sweet," Shinomiya said, "Japanese Curry is sweet, so it's definitely not disgusting, but Shiomi-senpai's curry is a lot more Indian, which focuses on spice and savouriness. Adding things to it recklessly will ruin the balance."

"But if you get the right balance the sugar just evens out," Mizuhara supposes. "Or it'll be completely overpowered by the spices and the addition would be pointless."

"Apples give this slightly tart, fresh taste to stews and soups," Haruno said. "I think it'd work in curry, but... the curry's already cooked, so the flavours won't be melding in with the rest of the ingredients."

Meanwhile, Eda has put butter and apples into a pan and is currently dumping cream into the bowl. It's when he reaches for the cubed pumpkins in the fridge that everyone lunges to stop whatever horrors were going to happen.

"Goddammit can you stop?!" Shinomiya yelled. "We haven't even tried this one yet!"

Eda whined as the spatula is confiscated and Sena frees the tools from him. "If putting them in too late won't work, I should enhance the flavours and mix it in like a jam, right??"

"What is with you and adding sweets to savoury things? From the Earl Grey in beef stew to the goddamn sour cream to everything!"

"Let me just try one thing!"

"You've tried one thing already!"

"Two things then!"

"Yeah, and after that you're going to ask for three!"

"I can have three???"

"That wasn't permission!"

Mizuhara huffed, "if we leave him be for even a moment, he might cook an entire kingdom of test dishes..."

"He has before," Fumio, who was just passing by the doorway, said.

Mizuhara facepalmed.

-

The street stall planning turns Polar Star Dormitory— the whole school, honestly, but we're focusing on Polar Star now— into absolute fragrance heaven.

Which is hell for Eda.

He wakes up coughing and he opens a window, wondering if he's sick. He's not, but it feels like he's having an allergic reaction out of season, with the congested nose, sticky throat, and watering eyes.

"And this is why I always tell you to not stay in the spice warehouse for too long, Jun, and how important it is to air it out. Your room is right below Kiyofumi's now that you moved your experiments here," Fumio scowled, disappointed as everyone in the dorms hounded Eda with tissues and warm teas and anything they could find. Someone found a plush toy. "It's really bad for your lungs."

"I'm sorry..." Shiomi wailed.

"A'hm fiinnne," Eda groaned, feeling a headache coming in.

"We don't have air conditioning in these dorms, either, outside of the sitting area," Nakagawa said. "You've been sleeping with the window closed in your dorm, haven't you? Let some air in sometimes, Eda."

"But the wind's getting colder..."

"Eda, no more dish experimenting," were Fumio's strict orders, "we already decided to serve your curry puffs, anyways— so leave the rest to your seniors. You're on eating duty, alright?"

Eda couldn't hold back the grimace.

"I'll... pass."

That's a hurdle he can't overcome just yet.

-

They didn't question anything. They just thought he was sick of curry after being in its presence for too long, so they sent him out to tour whatever the rest of school was doing.

"Eda-kun," Mizuhara called out to him when she spotted him. She seemed to be running a supply trip, so Eda followed her back to her classroom. "Yeah, staying in that wooden dorm with so many spices in the air isn't very healthy. You need better ventilation there, a lot of spices aren't good when directly taken into the lungs. Most of the powders, especially."

"Our class is doing a pizzeria," Sena said. "Once they figured out Mizuhara wasn't helping with cooking, everyone agreed to limit the menu to classic selections."

Though Sena and Mizuhara aren't helping their class on the day-of, they're helping with setup and decorations because there's a lot to do.

Eda proceeded to stare at the painted billboard, with a sketched concept of a pizza with what looked like okonomiyaki-styled fillings and sauce. Complete with the noodles and everything.

"I had nothing to do with that," Mizuhara pleaded for mercy.

Sena laughed, "we do need something unique to make the shop worth visiting."

They're going to get egged. Definitely.

The other classes are doing fascinating concepts all around. Some are playing it safe like Mizuhara and Sena's class, but others are taking the opportunity (since they'll be helped by teachers through the process) to go all out.

There's a class doing a haunted mansion restaurant, complete with the ghost butler theme for waiters. There's also a halloween-themed cafe, classic maid cafes, and some classes are buying up booth spaces to host street stalls or family restaurants following the lead of some of their more prominent classmates.

"Can't believe the entire school's going to do food... in a normal school there'd be attractions. Won't people get heartburn just eating the whole time?" Eda wondered, "I'd get sick from eating."

"It's definitely a foodie's dream come true," Sena beamed.

Eda honestly wonders how the foodies in this world haven't died of hypertension or heart attacks ages ago, if this is how much they get to indulge all year around.

If he still had his sense of taste or smell, perhaps, he'd enjoy it all a little more. He wasn't devastated or anything— he just wasn't someone who could understand the hype of this festival like the others could, anymore. And not understanding is sad, but it's not the end of the world.

He's always been better at cooking than indulging, anyways.

-

Coming through his class was a disaster.

Everything was disorganized, preparation was way behind, and the teacher was getting a headache. His obligation was to only step in when things went south, though, so he simply left the students to bask in their failures.

The problem now, however.

"Stop complaining about every single detail, you barely know anything about Japanese cuisine, you hick! Stop acting like a know-it-all when you're just an amateur!"

Eda crossed the door just in time to see Haruno get shoved toward the pile of wooden boards, and someone gasped and it shattered under her weight, nearly upturning buckets of paint. Someone leapt in before it all dominoed toward the still-drying signs, and others scrambled to get out of the way of the spilled tools.

"You okay, Haruno?!" Someone caught the half-finished roof before it fell on her, too.

"Suzuki, don't you think that's enough out of you? All you're doing is bossing people around!"

"This place is hazardous enough, isn't it common sense not to shove people around?"

To which Suzuki snarled back, "I barely fucking touched her! She's the dramatic one that decided ot spread-eagle and collapse over everything just to make a big deal!"

The silence that met him after that was dumbfounded, defeated annoyance.

It was clear everyone in class hated him, but after days upon weeks of this same attitude, they'd all given up on arguing back. It was probably for the same reason that Haruno simply allowed herself to be taken advantage of during the exam.

Their results weren't out yet, and judging from the look on Minase-sensei's face, Suzuki was going to be in for a nasty surprise when he got his report card. Students in the Junior High section don't get expelled out of exam season, but there's one at the start of next year that Suzuki is going to be in deep trouble for.

"To begin with, it's because you guys suddenly ditched us out of nowhere!" Suzuki snapped at Haruno, "you're some kind of coward, just riding the coattails of the seniors! We're here trying to achieve something ourselves, we're not taking advantage and just being a burden to our seniors! Have some shame!"

"You're the one that took charge!'

"Yeah, and all of you are fucking useless! And now you're blaming me for the mess we're in?!"

Eda stood at the doorway.

He was always fighting with Shinomiya, but that was Shinomiya. Maybe that was why he couldn't find the words to yell back, when it came to this situation.

He hated Suzuki, and honestly, if he got expelled soon it would be good riddance— but the rest of the classroom didn't have to take the fall for whatever the hell he was doing.

(He wasn't new to bullying. Hadn't personally experienced it since Butakko's gang grew out of their delinquent phase.)

(But even then, he always had Tamako-neesan to run off to. Their territorial feud wasn't his problem, he was just the centerpiece being taking away to prove who owns the place.)

(Ah, that's a solution.)

"Haruno," he called out, and the classroom jerked around, surprised to see him there. Haruno, in particular, let out a squeak of surprise. "Kiriya-senpai wanted me to ask you about fried noodle dishes. Something about a noodle stand project for our booth? We wanted your advice, if you don't mind."

When he comfortably walked in to help Haruno to her feet, everyone glanced at Suzuki with concern.

Eda knew why. He had the look of murder on his face right now.

Pretty cute compared to all the delinquent big sisters in Sumiredoori, though.

"Excuse me, you snobby-ass punk, I was talking to her," he growled, "Aren't you and Shinomiya too good of chefs to be bothered with this classroom? Fuck off with that pink-haired bitchboy of yours and stop trying to be a hero in matters you have no business in, you fucking pansy."

Eda turned to him, still blank-faced.

"Oh, sure, I'll be out of your way soon," he said, evenly. Then, with a simple tilt to the head, "uhhh, what was your name again? Sorry, I'm a bit bad with faces, and we only share homeroom, I think..."

There was a startled, muffled laughter somewhere behind him, but it wasn't until Suzuki's face grew maddeningly red that he realized it was Haruno.

"You think you're so above us just because you can cook a decent dish or two!" his voice raised. "Get off your fucking high horse!"

"Sure," Eda responded with a dismissive shrug.

The dry response, predictably, set him off even more.

He saw the confrontation coming, and he knew where Suzuki was going for first— to grab at the collar, because he's taller. Once this turned into a confrontation, he could easily escalate the situation and force Minase-sensei to actually move. Right now, the teacher was still waiting to see if the students would be able to compromise on their own. He looked disappointed that it wouldn't.

Eda foresaw a battle coming. If there was anything he was always good at, it was giving people a reason to pick fights. After all, he's weak, wimpy, and he never gave desire reactions when taunted or hit by people who wanted to hurt him. He's the master of observing fights between these types of people.  

Eda, however, did not foresee the fist coming from behind him.

"Ah, wait—!"

Minase-sensei had been watching from his corner seat the whole time, but even he was too late to react when Haruno swung in with a left hook, right as Suzuki was stepping up to Eda.

He'd quite literally walked into a flying fist.

Saying everyone was flabbergasted would be an understatement. Eda half-turned around to see Haruno kneading her bruised knuckle, but she didn't even look fazed by the fact she'd just punched a boy in the face and sent him flying.

The entire class stared at her in slack-jawed horror.

She had tears in her eyes, and when she finally spoke up again, it was a yell.

"I've had enough! Don't get Eda involved in your insults, you prick!" she marched forward, and Eda wasn't imagining the way everyone gave her a wide berth. "I get it, you're the Leader of this booth, you're in charge, you're the one that proposed the idea! You won by majority vote! FINE! Why are you insisting on being the leader if you're just going to throw all the work on me?! What's the point of that?? Cook YOUR recipe! Oh but not like that! No, I don't have to explain anything, who cares about everyone ELSE? Do you WANT to lead or NOT??"

She was yelling so much from that tiny body that Eda actually got very concerned. She's huffing and puffing and everyone was very worried she'd throw another punch. Or burst out crying. They didn't know how to deal with either.

"I don't care about prestige or honour, I'll let you have it! But now everything's a mess and you're still blaming me?" she chucked her handkerchief at him right as he woozily got us, utterly dumbfounded by the fact he got punched, "I've had enough! GIVE ME THE LEADER TITLE! I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"

"Wha–??"

He probably felt his entire brain rattle at that punch. No one's sure if he heard anything she screamed at him.

But her next words needed no elaboration.

"YOU! ME! SHOKUGEKI, NOW!"

"Uh Haruno-san please calm—"

"Minase-sensei! JUDGE!"

"Yes ma'am."

-

It didn't go as planned, but damn, Haruno got control of the class booth so quickly, Suzuki ended up so fucking horrified he just obeyed orders meekly the entire rest of the festival— and the class now fucking loves Haruno.

"Ah— I'm not half-Japanese," she said. "It's a bit messy... but my dad remarried a few times, and then he passed away, and now I've been taken in by my granduncle, who's Japanese. I can speak Japanese fine, but I grew up going back and forth between Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. My mami jumps around a lot due to her work, so she takes me to Indonesia and the Philippines sometimes, too. Ah, last time she took me to Vietnam—"

Eda had to take a moment.

"Are you rich?"

"I'm sorry. Yes."

-

Well, now that the class problem is solved— everyone dissected the menu, expanded the selection to fusion dishes, and got preparations under way— Eda felt better after the change of pace and went back to Polar Star to finish his dish.

"I can't believe we really added apple and pumpkin puree to the curry..." Shinomiya looked at the curry puff warily.

"I like the spicier ones with curry puffs," Sena said, "but these are good, too! I have to admit, I think locals would like this Japanese-take on it more."

"They're traditionally stuffed with potatoes, so I also cubed some of the softer apples to make the texture more cohesive," Eda said, still staring at the next batch in the oven as he takes a bite of the one in his hand. He frowns, "the heat's still too high... it's falling apart in my mouth."

"What the– don't just turn the heat down mid-bake!"

"It's fine, I know what I'm doing."

"What are you, the oven whisperer??"

Mizuhara made a pleased noise as she ate it, "the flavours work!" And Sena couldn't help but make incoherent noises of agreement, nodding fervently.

The curry mix was already powerful and fragrant on its own, but now, there's a soft meld of tangy apple juice working through the spike of chilli, giving it an addictively pleasant hum lingering on two different taste buds at once. Through the mixture there's a deep, creamy satisfaction that increases in each bite, achieved through the full, earthy combination of potatoes and pumpkins folded together with cream.

"You're unbeatable in desserts, but it's amazing how it translates over to skills in baking anything at all..." Mizuhara hummed.

Eda huffed. "My house is filled with ovens that all go on at the same time in the morning if I want to make it in time for opening. And every oven cooks differently, so I have to know how well each oven cooks. The Polar Star Ovens are a bit older, so it gets a little bit hotter than the ones in the classroom."

"Wait, for real?"

"It's not a big enough difference to affect everyone's cooking— except maybe really delicate meats, I guess?" Eda said, "but for pastry, everything counts."

Honest to god, Shinomiya can't taste the difference. Eda bakes the best puff pastry in the dorms, even compared to the seniors— but Eda was cherry-picking even between different batches, stating one was too flaky, or one was underdone— when, to Shinomiya, they tasted exactly the same.

There were just things Eda could tell that he couldn't, because all Shinomiya's tongue was interesting in was the taste of the spices and the flavours kneaded into the dough.

To a common palate, they would have the same experience. Unless you were cooking for some real gourmets, a difference like this shouldn't matter— and yet, Eda obsessed over these details, trying over and over just to get it right.

He knows the taste is good. But he couldn't enjoy it, so what he truly wanted to perfect was the texture.

"It'd be better if you got your own oven just for sweets, huh?" Mizuhara said. "Or maybe even a cooling workshop to make desserts in."

"Maybe if you get better through the years, you'll have permission for one by the time we're in High School," Sena said. "You could even establish your own Research Society and get the funds that way— do we have a dessert society?"

"No," Shinomiya knew that, they checked, "but we do have chocolate, candy appreciation, dairy research, and japanese sweets. Dairy research is more about butter, milk and cheese than actual cakes, though. We don't have one for the entire genre of dessert, but there are a few subsets."

Eda groaned at that.

"And yet our classes have one dessert class," he pouted. "It just doesn't make sense, does it?"

Sure, fine, desserts aren't a big focus in Tootsuki, and trying to make your way up the hierarchy with confectionaries won't be easy outside of its own niche— but there isn't a soul in the world that doesn't like sweets.

"If you become Elite Ten, you'll be able to change the curriculum for it."

When Shiomi inserted herself into the conversation, the room fell silent.

They had no idea when she got in there and started eating like a connoisseur, but she seemed really pleased by it.

"I really like what you did with it, Eda-kun!" she jumped, "we should definitely sell this on the day of! You got the Shiomi stamp of approval~!!"

She pranced around like she didn't just drop a bomb on them, patting them lovingly on the forehead and then sauntering out.

"Now I'm gonna go check on Nakagawa-kun's cream cheese curry nachos, bye!"

"W-Wait! Hold on!"

They seized her before she left.

"The Elite Ten can do what?"

She seemed very bewildered by their surprise. "Change the curriculum, of course? The Elite Ten is a student body with as much authority as the school board. We run most school events, too. And if a majority of the Elite Ten agree on something, the Chairman is obligated to see it through."

Eda, for not the first time, understood that this school is insane.

"I would ask them to put more emphasis on Desserts for you, but unfortunately, dessert-specialized cooks are rare," Shiomi admitted, sadly, "even in the Candy and Chocolate appreciation societies, they don't specialize in Confections. Even the President of the Japanese Sweets society is primarily aiming to be a sushi chef, he only does sweets as a hobby."

And Eda knew where she was coming from.

If he truly was only skilled at making pastries, he would have failed long ago, even with Shinomiya's help. He couldn't stick to traditional desserts all the time— and he was open to learning all manner of dishes. But he couldn't exactly make a sugary dessert for a curry-themed booth, could he? The exam, too— he had to scrap his dish for something savoury instead.

If he stuck to his sweet specialties, they would have both failed.

In this school, in any society— it's about adapting or getting kicked out. Only the ones at the top had the ability to change the flow of the world.

If Eda wanted more opportunities to make sweets, he had to get to the top and change it from the inside out.

He thought of a shining figure— a face he didn't even remember clearly anymore. She stood in the spotlight back then, and there was always that joy blooming in her chest when her works were acknowledged, one after another.

She stood at the top of the world, before she lost the ability to see it all for herself.

Honestly, he felt intimidated, thinking he would try to head upwards once more. He'd crashed and burned once already— twice, if you counted both the past life and this life's loss of senses— he couldn't help but feel as if the oncoming was inevitable.

"The Elite Ten, huh..."

But just once more, he wanted to try chasing after it. He knew he lived for the spotlight, and even if it was just an attempt, he wanted to chase the light anyway.

If he crashed and burned again— well, he's still here.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that no matter how many times he lived and died and lived again, the patissier in him still lived on.

Eda Kiyofumi was born to keep soldiering on.

-

"Curry Kuey Teow, Curry Yakisoba, Curry Pasta, Curry Chow Mein— You guys are insane!" Shinomiya gawked at the sight of the menu ensemble on the day of the festival. "You're going to cook them all right next to each other?"

"It's the ultimate curry noodle shop, curry-around-the-world style," Shiomi grinned, "I'll be cooking in the main restaurant over there, so I can't watch or help, so good luck, everyone!"

"YEAH!" the dorm called back.

"We'll not disappoint you, Shiomi-senpai!"

"We have the honour of an Elite Ten at stake here! No one's letting up even a second!"

Eda found it quite fascinating how everyone came together, no matter their specialties, just to help Shiomi-senpai absolutely thrive for her last festival. She was definitely going all out here, aiming to be the top ranking booth for all five days— and no one doubted she was going to do amazingly.

"And then, the finger-food corner," Nakagawa presented dramatically. "Starting with Curry Nachos, Curry Puffs, Curry Takoyaki, Curry Piroshki, Curry Banh Mi, and so much more!"

Eda felt obligated to cheer back enthusiastically when everyone around him did. Shinomiya was the loudest, though.

"Alright!"

A chime rang through the loudspeakers as the announcement came to mark the beginning of the Moon Festival.

Eda tied his apron behind him. Beside him, Shinomiya brushed his hair back with a resolved breath in. He sees Sena tuck his hair carefully back and out of the way, with Mizuhara commenting on how short hair was more convenient.

Eda couldn't help but smile.

His first year at Tootsuki ended with a great hurrah. The Polar Star Curry Street dominated the rankings of their area, and of course, Shiomi came out on top of the overall ranks, too.

After Winter Break, it'll be his second year.