If he thought his friends coming into the store only ten minutes into his shift was far too soon, then Shin was definitely in for a(n unpleasant) surprise when, as soon as he stepped foot into the store, he was greeted to the sight of three tables (smaller than the ones from the last supper ordeal) set up around the store, each with various different... cooking equipment? set up. "Um...?" He glanced around, approaching the counter where his coworker was stationed with apprehension. "What's going on this time?" Although he knew it was probably his friends, he was too confused to start getting upset just yet.

Majima shrugged, as nonchalant as ever, simply swirling his finger in indication for Shin to turn around. And as soon as he did-

"You made it just in time."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Clearly startled, Shin flung himself backwards, bumping directly into the counter. He nearly toppled over, his fall being stopped by a pair of arms quickly wrapping around him and hoisting him back upright. Muttering a quick thank you to whoever caught him (which he hoped was Majima, considering he was the only person behind the counter the last time he checked), he immediately went back on the defensive. "How did you even get there?!" He yelled, pointing an accusatory finger in Kai's direction. "I looked away for two whole seconds! Did you just materialize out of thin air?!"

Kai shook his head. "I was there the whole time."

"That's bullshit and you know it!"

"Now that everyone is here, it is time to get started." Kai promptly turned around, ignoring Shin's words as he walked to the center of the store and cleared his throat. "Welcome, one and all, to the annual-"

"-Annual?!?"

"Convenience Store Cooking Show! Also known as the CS2." Although he waved his hands around, Kai's voice showed no hints of enthusiasm whatsoever. Surprisingly enough, a few passersby actually gave their applause. "For today's show, I have with me three special contestants and judges. For plot convenience,"

"Plot convenience?!"

"I shall start with introducing the judges. First up, we have Majima Kuzumi!."

"You're in on this too?!" Shin cried out in exasperation at the sudden betrayal.

Majima shrugged, something Shin noticed he had a tendency of doing. "Hey, believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are. This is the first I've heard of it."

"Our next judge is Shin Tsukimi."

"Oh." Shin blinked. "You weren't kidding, huh?"

"And our final judge is none other than Q-Taro Burgerburg."

"I'm sorry, who-?"

"Hey guys!" Emerging from one of the aisles was none other than Q-Taro. Although it was exactly as Kai had said, Shin still felt a little surprised. How did he not see Q-Taro's bigass head peeking from over the shelf?! He's a literal giant!

"Now, for our contestants." Kai continued as if he didn't just summon a semi-famous baseball player from out of nowhere. "First up we h-

"Ooh, Kai!" From one of the aisles emerged a girl who looked to be a little younger than Kai's age. "I didn't know you had such a cute friend!" She cooed, clasping her hands together and pressing them against her cheek as she looked at Q-Taro (who was as unaware as ever). "Why didn't you tell me about him? Are you trying to keep him all to yourself?"

"I am not-"

"You should introduce me!" She exclaimed, setting her hands firmly on her hips.

"I was-"

"Actually, I'll just do it myself!" Not skipping a beat, the woman quickly skipped to her station, turning around with a flourish and waving happily. "Hey y'all! My name is Mai Tsurugi! I'm a full-time baker and I'm looking forward to knocking this competition out of the park!" She cheered, shooting a wink in Q-Taro's direction.

Kai furrowed his brow slightly, the ghost of a frown gracing his lips. "As I was saying, our next contestant is..." Reaching into his apron pocket, Kai looked down at a notecard in his hand, quickly scanning over its contents. "Just some random civilian I found who happened to be in the right place at the right time." He shrugged, tossing the notecard over his shoulder.

As soon as the victim emerged and headed toward his station, Shin knew exactly who it was. "Wh-why me...?" Hayasaka whimpered, trembling like a leaf as he approached his station.

"Is he okay...?" Majima frowned. "He looks kinda horrified."

"What the hell did you do to him?!" Shin exclaimed. "Did you break into his cubicle and abduct him?!"

Kai shook his head. "It may be hard to believe, but he was like that when I found him. Persuading him was a rather simple feat."

Shin nearly doubted Kai, but then again, Hayasaka did get roped into counting coins by a twelve year old catboy, so it wasn't as if he could rule out the possibility of Kai simply bullying the office worker into submission with just a statement and his signature soulless stare. In no way did it mean that Kai kidnapping someone wasn't entirely out of the picture; however, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Hayasaka was probably just intimidated by Kai's imposing presence. "Okay, I'll give you that," Shin finally conceded after a good bit of consideration, nodding in approval. "He is kind of pathetic."

"I know..." The feeble office worker mumbled, lowering his head in shame.

"And our final contestant is..." From somewhere in the store, there was a drum roll being played. "Keiji Shinogi."

"WHO-?!"

"Sup." The police officer had a slight smirk on his face as he scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks for inviting me, Kai."

Kai narrowed his eyes. "Remember the deal we made, Keiji."

Shin felt himself shiver at how ominous the threat was (And it wasn't even directed at him!), yet Keiji seemed as unbothered as ever. "Yeah, yeah, let's just focus on this first."

Kai held his pointed stare for a few seconds, before he visibly eased back. "Understood." He nodded, taking a step closer to the small audience they had somehow managed to gather and staring at all three contestants. "You have five minutes to gather at least five different ingredients for your dish. The total must be under five hundred yen."

"You better pay for it too!" Shin hollered, waving his fist in the air angrily.

"Once these five minutes are up, you will have twenty minutes to prepare your food. Are there any questions?"

"I'm serious!" Shin yelled out. "I'm not trying to lose my job over this dumbass show!"

When Kai was greeted with nothing but the sound of a fly buzzing, he pulled out a stopwatch from his pocket, thrusting his free hand up into the air. "You may now begin!" He exclaimed, beginning the timer.

Shin, speechless, could only watch as the three contestants scurried off along the store. "Oh my god," He murmured after a minute or so. "Is this actually happening?"

"You betcha!" Q-Taro grinned, standing next to Shin and resting his elbow on his shoulder (much to the latter's chagrin).

Majima, who didn't shrug for once, adjusted his glasses. "I'm kind of curious to see what they can manage."

"I agree." Kai spoke as he approached the two at the counter. "Now, for the sake of plot convenience-"

"-Be more original!!!"

"Now, for the sake of time management, I shall implement a timeskip to when the food is ready." Kai stated as casually as ever, closing his eyes.

"Wait, what the-?!"

^w^

"Stop!" Kai exclaimed at the exact same time the stopwatch went off.

Shin blinked in confusion. "Did you just-"

"That's time. I presume you are all ready?" The homemaker inquired, folding his arms behind his back as he approached the contestants.

"Are we just not gonna talk about how Kai just manipulated time?" Shin mumbled. Maybe he was actually going insane, and all the stress his friends had put him through had finally started to catch up to him.

"Ah, so you felt it too?" Majima hummed, tugging at the collar of his work uniform.

"What're y'all talkin' about?" Q-Taro tilted his head in confusion, crossing his arms over his chest.

Before Majima could respond, he was interrupted by someone else speaking up. "I'll present my dish first!" Mai took her creation from its place on her table and approached the group with a pep in her step. "For this very special occasion I have prepared a very special dish!" She set the plate down on the counter in front of the three judges, a brilliant smile on her face. On the plate was a perfectly formed miniature loaf of bread, with the half that was sliced up for the three revealing the unusually pink inside of the bread. "Behold, one of my favorite things to make, Gatorade Bread!"

"Gatorade Bread...?" Shin pursed his lips, looking at the bread with uncertainty. It did look good- Mai most definitely wasn't kidding when she said she was a baker- but, personally, he wasn't sure if gatorade and bread were two things that went together.

Mai nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! It may sound weird, but it tastes really soft and sweet! Try it, I promise you it tastes good!" She leaned forward slightly, clasping her hands together and peering at Shin with a pleading stare.

"Heck yea!" Q-Taro, with no hesitation whatsoever, took one of the slices of bread and popped it into his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise after a few seconds. "Hey, dis achtually tastes shuper good!" He exclaimed whilst he was still chewing, swallowing loudly after a few seconds. "You weren't kiddin' when you said it tastes good!" The baseball player turned to Mai with a large grin on his face. "You really know yer stuff, huh?"

Mai's cheeks lit up a shade of pink similar to the bread she made. "Why, thank you, Q-Taro!" She cooed, cupping her cheeks and returning the smile. "I could teach you how to make it sometime if you'd like! Making bread is very simple, I'm sure you'd learn it in no time!" She cooed, batting her eyelashes up at him.

"That will be enough of that." Kai suddenly popped up in between Q-Taro and Mai. If Shin didn't know Kai any better, he would've missed the twinge of annoyance in his words. He swiftly lifted up the plate from its place on the counter, disregarding Majima's hand outstretched about to take a piece and the disappointed cry (from both the cashier and the baker) that followed. "Next up, we will be sampling the extra's dish."

"Please don't refer to me as an extra..." Hayasaka mumbled, approaching the counter and setting down his dish. "I'm not the best cook, but I know enough. Though it was kind of hard finding something I could make, I managed to make some fried rice using the portable stove."

The fried rice looked surprisingly good, considering the fact that it cost less than 500 yen to make. But then again, the convenience store did sell 500 yen bentos- the very same accursed item that led him to where he was right now.

Before either Shin or Q-Taro could do anything, Majima already had the bowl of rice in his hands, scarfing down its contents (and making sure to leave enough for the other two). "This fried rice is bussing!" Shin visibly cringed at the adjective his coworker had decided to use, yet chose to remain silent, considering last time he commented on someone's word choice he ended up with a child telling him he looked like he was going to bust a nut. "Good job!"

"Hah, thank you..." Hayasaka brought his hand to the back of his neck, bowing his head sheepishly. "I'm glad it tastes alright."

Majima set the bowl down on the counter, sliding it towards the other two judges for them to try. After a bit of hesitance from Shin's part, Q-Taro took the initiative to be the next to try it- only for someone else to grab the bowl instead.

"In the wise words of a certain house husband, that will be enough of that." Keiji whistled, handing the bowl back to Hayasaka and shooing him off. "Those two may have had good dishes, but I promise mine is gonna win."

"And, what exactly is the dish you'd like to present?" Kai tilted his chin up, looking down at Keiji. "If I recall, I'm fairly sure you were just sitting there for most of the time."

"Behold!" With an unusual amount of flair from the otherwise tired policeman, he thrust his hand forward, presenting to the group...

...A singular, raw egg, with a straw poked through its shell.

"...What?" Shin wasn't sure if he was seeing things right.

Kai was certainly unhappy with this, considering the way his poker face quickly fell into a frown. "Where did you get that egg from?"

"Don't worry, Chickoletta-"

"-Her name is Henrietta." Kai scolded harshly.

"Chickoletta," Keiji continued, ignoring the death glare coming his way. "Is doing fine."

"Well, regardless of where this egg came from, I'm afraid this submission cannot be accepted, as it does not meet the requirement of having at least five ingredients."

"Oh, I have five ingredients alright," Keiji smirked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and pointing towards his station. When the others looked, there were four packs of straws and a coffee on his table. "You never said we had to use them all, though."

Kai's nose scrunched up as his brow furrowed. After a second or so, his face quickly resumed its usual neutral expression. "I suppose that is my fault. In that case, Judges, you are free to sample Keiji's dish."

The three judges froze up on the spot, staring incredulously at the singular egg held out before them. "So, then, who wants to go first?" Keiji asked.

"Ah, I already sampled Mai's dish, so I think I'm fine!" Q-Taro quickly answered. "Thanks, though!"

Majima nodded fervently, putting up his hands as if he was shielding himself from the egg. "Shin's the only one who hasn't tried anyone's food yet!" He blurted out.

"What the hell?!" Shin hissed. "Why would you throw me under the bus like that?!"

"I'm sorry!" Majima squeezed his eyes shut. "It was you or me." Although Shin wanted to say something in protest, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at his coworker. He couldn't really blame him- if he were in his position, he probably would've done the exact same thing.

"So, then, Shin, I take it you are going to try my dish?" Keiji held the egg closer to the man in question.

"Oh, no no no no no, that does not mean I'm going to try your dish." Shin shook his head firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Are you sure about that?" Keiji's stare intensened as he pushed the egg closer to Shin.

Shin, starting to get a tad unnerved, took a step back- only to remember that he had his back directly against the counter. "There is no way in hell I'm gonna drink a raw egg!" He exclaimed. "That's nasty!"

Before he could quickly scurry away, Keiji's other hand was suddenly on his shoulder. Shin tried to squirm out of his grip, but the policeman was too strong for him. (Or maybe he was too weak.) "How could you say that if you haven't even tried it?"

"It's literally just a singular raw egg!" Shin cried out, quickly turning his head to the others and looking at them with pleading eyes. Mai whistled, taking a step closer to Q-Taro, who had been grinning cheekily. Kai simply stared at the scene about to unfold, while Hayasaka mouthed an apology and Majima averted his gaze. "I'm not gonna try it!" He yelped, turning his face back to Keiji.

To his horror, the egg was slowly inching closer to his face. "Are you sure about that?" Keiji asked with a malicious tone.

"This isn't funny anymore, Keiji!" Shin shrieked. "This is just harassment! Get that egg away from me!" Despite his commands, the egg was now closer than ever. "I'm being serious! Don't you dare- NOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!"

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Author's Note: IM SO SORRY THIS CAME OUT SO LATE LMFAOOO Every time I tried to write, I kept getting roped into other stuff. Whoops! I originally had Mishima and Joe be the other participants instead of Hayasaka and Keiji, but I somehow ended up here instead. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I sure did! Thank you so much for reading :D