39 [39] The Second-Coming of…
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Chapter 39: The Second-Coming of…
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[Third Person Point of View]
Ruby was inside a special place right now. It was a spacious and well-lit room, with great lighting and a fresh, airy environment. The walls were painted pristine white, creating a clean and modern aesthetic.
There was kitchen equipment everywhere around her, organized and neatly arranged, from the traditional wooden utensils to the latest state-of-the-art appliances. This large kitchen was designed to be functional, yet aesthetically pleasing, allowing any chef to work comfortably while surrounded by the beautiful views of the garden outside. There was an overall feeling of freshness, cleanliness, and efficiency combined with a peaceful atmosphere, making this a relaxing space for creative and productive cooking.
Effectively so, as it was a Cooking Studio.
"Incredible place! Well suited to bear our first appearance on a digital screen!" Ruby exclaimed as she looked around, happy and excited for the next events to unfold.
"Can't say I disagree," Kana looked around with an impressed glint in her eyes. "As expected from the Strawberry Productions."
Other than these two girls, Miyako and Tsubasa were also present. Today was Wednesday, however, the girls didn't attend school so that they could attend a show. It was an online cooking show.
"Mom, am I doing it right?"
"Yep, it's good enough."
Miyako was showing Tsubasa how to set the camera and check some other things. Tsubasa had come here, skipping school, to learn tricks from her mother. Being a manager for idols and other influencers was a tough job, and Tsubasa had to learn these from the best if she wanted to succeed. Few were better than her parents in this field.
"It's strange how the generation changes," Miyako was checking the lens of the camera as she suddenly began to reminisce. All three of the high school girls turned to look at her. "A few decades ago, internet cooking shows didn't have any viewership. Then cooks on Twitch and YouTube who streamed their cooking became famous. Mostly hot female creators succeed in a field like this."
"No wonder our host today is so popular," Kana chimed in, making Miyako nod.
"Yup. Our Strawberry Foundation can be said to have 'retired' since we don't do many offline projects. Our current clients, other than Ai, are all online creators. This client we will be working with today is one of our more famous ones." Miyako said, and she paused to take a look at the girls. "She is around the same age as you guys, so be friendly, but don't be too friendly as to appear rude. Especially you, Ruby."
"What?!" Ruby gagged in shock. "What do you mean, 'especially Ruby'?! What sort of accusation is this?!"
"Exactly. You are too loud." Miyako laughed as she said that, watching the girl she once thought was a God glare at her with a pout.
"There, we have everything ready now." Tsubasa chimed in the conversation with a soft giggle of her own. "Speaking of our host though, why isn't she here yet?"
"I'm wondering that too," Kana agreed.
Just when Miyako was about to comment, a figure walked in through the door of the studio. "I'm here," she said with a sway of her hips.
It was a girl carved out of an adult manga author's artwork. Her beauty was like the petals of a blooming flower, and her short ash-blonde hair framed her face like a halo as a single long bang hung from one side of her face. Her eyes were like amber jewels, their clear brightness radiating elegance and grace.
She wore a fit chef's outfit, a white dress hugged her voluptuous form, with the lace and ruffles adding a touch of softness and femininity to her overall look. Black cuffs clutched around her delicate wrists, with a girly bracelet above one of them, adding a playful element to an otherwise captivating appearance, befitting a talented young chef who also happened to be a gorgeous lady.
[Image Here]
"Sorry for making you wait," she looked around apologetically. "There was some heavy traffic. Gosh, when did Japan become so traffic-heavy?"
As she finished, the girls stared at her in awe. Especially Ruby, who gasped with a stunned look on her face.
"She's gorgeous!"
"Ah, oh my." The young lady blinked and blushed with a smile at the compliment. "I think you're the most gorgeous one here, darling, but sure I'll take the compliment."
Both of them were correct; while Alice certainly was a captivating young lady with an exotic appearance, Ruby was by far the most beautiful. Blonde hair and blue eyes gave her a basic description, but her face and skin were beyond everyone. Both of her parents' genes were at work to produce the fine creation that was her.
Miyako chimed in, smiling. "Looks like you girls will get along fine. Guys, this is our host, the owner of this show. Our country's most famous young cook, Alice Nakiri."
"Hi~ everyone."
Alice Nakiri is from the prestigious Nakiri family, which in this world was much more than a simple cooking household. One of the Five Great Families, serving directly under the Shinto Gods.
"And…" Miyako trailed off as a young man of similar age to Alice walked inside too, standing beside her like a guardian. "It's her aide, Ryō Kurokiba, without whom she rarely cooks."
"Hi," the young man with bags under his eyes said. "Good day." That was all he was interested in saying.
Then, Miyako introduced the girls to the two newcomers. In the meantime, Alice and Kurokiba exchanged glances while Ruby and Tsubasa did the same. In this room, the four of them were a bit more than normal humans, and all four of them realized that from the get-go.
* * *
Kana had a fan base already, though it was very small, and they weren't diehard fans. Ruby, on the other hand, was a nobody in the world of entertainment. So before their Idol Group would perform their first live concert a few months later, it's smarter to build a fan base first.
So, the two of them, along with anyone joining in the future, were going to meet with a few famous people every now and then.
Alice Nakiri was a 2nd year student of the Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, Japan's biggest cooking school. Of the Elite Ten Council, she held the 6th seat, which meant she was the 6th best cook amongst all the students. Though, at the same time, she was the most famous thanks to her classy looks, likable personality, and cute clumsiness.
Alice's show was a great choice for Ruby and Kana's first joint appearance.
"Hello lads and lasses, today we have two new guests with us~!" Alice was behind the kitchen table with Ruby and Kana by her side as she looked at the camera and talked. "I'm sure all of you know this shorty redheaded cutie beside me, it's Arima Kana, but let me introduce to you the other lady. With eyes twinkling like stars, it's my future idol star friend, Ruby Hoshino."
"Hey, guys!" Ruby waved at the camera; Kana did the same, but she was a little less excited. "Ad promotion is kinda annoying to watch, I know, so we'll do it later at the end of the show. Make sure to stick until the end, okay?"
That was the plan. Everything was being streamed live right now, and since it just started there were not as many viewers as there would be at the end. Many would skip the promotion if they did it at the start anyway, so the smartest choice was to show them the entire episode, let them realize how cute these girls were, and then they would wait by themselves to hear the name of their Idol group.
"Ryo-kun," Alice clapped her hands as Ryo appeared behind her, the girls made space to let the camera capture him. "Tell them about today's dish, will you?"
"Yes," Ryo nodded, raising up a picture for the camera to see. It was a dish with juicy eggs and sauce. "It's the [Three Forms of Egg] Dish. It is a main course, a mixture of Japanese, French, and Dutch Cuisine."
"I hope you guys will enjoy it!" Alice said, and then the cooking began.
The four of them worked in harmony, with Alice mostly calling for ingredients from Ruby and Kana as they handed them over. Ryo worked on another stove to the side, and when they were a few minutes into the cooking they let the two girls take the stove.
"Uhm, I am a little nervous since I might ruin the dish, but I'll give it my all." Kana said as she cleared her throat, while Ryo helped her cook.
Alice was with Ruby, helping her choose the ingredients and explaining. "This is my original dish, you know? So don't hesitate to ask me anything, I love explaining my dishes to people. For starters, let's begin with the Neptune Diluted Ocean Gelée with Salmon Eggs. As you can see, I have prepared all the ingredients we need for this dish. Let's start with the salmon roe. You'll first mix the roe with some diluted seawater and gelatin. The gelatin will help the roe hold together while the sea water adds a rich, briny flavor."
"Ooh~" Ruby wowed as she worked with the ingredients as instructed.
Alice continued. "As the gelée mixture begins to solidify, you have to add a bit of lemon juice to provide some acidity and balance the briny flavor of the seafood. The result is a gorgeous gelée that resembles the deep blue waters of the ocean. Next, add the salmon roe, it will provide an authentic and delicious nod to the dish's marine theme. The subtle, soft flavors of the roe complement the gelée perfectly, creating a truly mouth-watering dish. Okay, the next step is to add the Dutch Style Asparagus Forest in an Egg!"
Like that, the episode continued. Each minute, a thousand new viewers joined and soon the channel was filled with viewers and comments. It wasn't the most viewers that this show had accumulated, but 227k active watchers was a lot.
There was a large monitor hung on the wall behind the camera that the chefs would sometimes peek at to see the comments. Alice was doing that more frequently than usual today, as she was an instructor rather than a cook in this particular episode. While reading and answering comments, she came across one particular one that caught her attention.
"Hmm, what's this?" She blinked. "There is an odd comment. Hey, Ruby, do you have a brother?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?" Ruby asked and raised her head to look at the comment, and by the time she did that a dozens of other related comments flooded the chat. Ruby choked.
===
Yukira27: Wait, did she say her name was Ruby Hoshino? Blonde hair, glittering eyes, and last name is Hoshino… it can't be! My love of life Aquamarine-sama has a sister?!
.
..
…
ThisIsUmeda: Wait, she just said yes! She does have a brother! There is no doubt then, her brother is him, omg. That's my sister-in-law!
Yukira27: Bitch, who are you?? I connected the dots first, which means she's my sister-in-law.
Akira61: Dang girls these days are wild. They're not thirsty, they are dehydrated.
ObiKatsu: Ngl. But yeah, gotta admit, this sibling pair got damn good genes. Look at her face, goddamn.
Otaku333: Keuk, look at her petite body. It's so lovely. Gosh, imagine the things I'd do to her…
[User 'Otaku333' has been banned]
ObiKatsu: Deserved.
Akira61: Hahaha, Massive L. What a gross creep, people like him ruin Japan's rep. Glad he got banned.
ThisIsUmeda: Does anyone know her IG? Aqua doesn't have one, last time I checked, so maybe I'll find his secret pics if I find her account.
Yukira27: Hehe, I already found her IG, not giving though.
ThisIsUmeda: Wtf? What level of stalker are you?
===
"Hoh, this is new," Alice muttered with a whistle as she took out her phone and made a Google search. "I usually just get male viewers, but today there are so many girls. Let me see who this Aquamarine is- ah."
Alice looked at her phone, paused for a moment, and then grinned. "No wonder. Looks like he appears in a show. LoveMy? Oh oops, did I just do a free advertisement?"
The comments went crazy once more, and as Alice had realized, this little incident would cause LoveMy's viewership to spike up a bit more than it already was.
….
Alice took over the cooking around its final part. She whispered to Ruby's ears as she did that.
"I usually don't bother to explain this to my guests, but since you are a part of the supernatural, you'll notice anyway. So I'll tell you myself." She said, as she put her hand on the handle of the stove and moved it. However, the way the fire moved was not how the stove should work. There was mana in the air that went into the fire and enriched it. "One of the reasons why I am so good is this. I use mana control to cook. It's a very precise and delicate process, so that's why I am doing it myself instead of letting you do it."
"Oooh," Ruby whispered back. "Can I try? If you don't mind."
"Huh?" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Who knows, you might have enough control to pull it off. Show me."
Then, Ruby took the handle and used the power of her eyes. Kagemimic.
The exact thing that Alice did happened with Ruby's hands and aura, as the fire moved in a certain pattern, heat, and way that made the food grow better.
"Oh," Alice blinked. "Unbelievable. You're not experienced in this, I can tell. You are just copying me, perfectly I must add. you just learned what I did by seeing it once."
"Haha, yeah, it's a trick I learned."
Alice just started as Ruby worked her way with the fire. What was impressive was that she didn't ask for any instructions on how to end this. She only saw the starting process, but she improvised and did the middle part all by herself and then finished without any issue either. She was a genius.
"Hah," Alice grinned, breaking into a peal of laughter. She jokingly added, "Looks like the viewers might have a tough competition, a sister-in-law like you sounds fun."
Everyone laughed except for Tsubasa; she was pretending that she didn't hear as she had her focus on the stream to ban any weirdos.
….
"Mhm- this is delicious!"
Later, the two dishes were finally done, and Alice and Ryo were doing a taste test. The plates were carefully presented on a dining table, the camera was focused on it, as Ruby and Kana stood beside the testers.
"This is great." Ryo nodded at Kana as he ate the food too; the taste was impressive. He wasn't much of a talker, but Kana was hoping for a louder reaction. "Sorry if my reaction is lacking compared to Mistress Alice, just know I like it."
"Ah," Kana blinked, a bit surprised he had caught on to that. "It's fine… thanks."
"Now guys!" Alice finished the food and clapped her hands, walking over to the camera. "I am sure you guys enjoyed the episode as much as I did. Our guests will be saying their farewells soon, so it's about time we tell you guys about them."
Ruby and Kana rushed to stand beside her and introduced themselves again.
"Hey again, it's Arima Kana!" Kana made an effort to smile and blink to the camera, she was feeling good because it was a fun event today, so it wasn't fake.
"Hi, it's Ruby Hoshino," Ruby said, revealing her last name was fine since nobody knew Ai's last name, people won't be able to connect the dots with just that. "We are going to come out as Idols soon, and we are going for a grand name. Before any of you judge, I have got permission to use this name from the big lady."
By then everyone was curious about what name she was going to use, what kind of name needed so much buildup?
Ruby grinned, "We are going by the name, B-Komachi! I'll wait for you guys at the concert!"
There was silence for a moment. The entire chat paused. Then everything went haywire. Even Alice and Ryo knew what group that was, as they snapped their heads to look at Ruby in shock. Kana looked flustered and surprised, while Miyako and Tsubasa smiled.
On that day, the internet broke as the legendary idol group's name went trending again after years of silence.
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Master4thWall Note: The Nakiri clan already exists in the DxD canon universe anyway, so I thought why not bring Food Wars into this? Other than that, don't forget to Vote Powerstones!
