Chapter 109: Stagiare and Keeping Up

Before leaving, Fubuki who has gained a lot of strength over their time together was face to face with a giant pig.

"You humans only pollute and slowly kill the planet. I, Pluton. The king of the underworld will crush you with my snout." The giant pig with a trident and a machete was vacuuming everything to his snout.

It was slowly making its way to city Z. And before Saitama can turn it into mincemeat, Ramiel and Tatsumaki sent Fubuki for a nice test.

"Nee-chan is cheering you on Fubuki! You can do it!" Tatsumaki was waving a flag for her. Fubuki blushed heavily in embarrassment.

"This isn't a tournament nee-san, this guy is a dragon level threat you know!?" Fubuki huffed at her. "Go Fubuki, beat its ass!" Ramiel chimed in with Tatsumaki.

"I mean, it's nice that they're supporting me. But aren't they a bit embarrassing?" Fubuki grumbled as she flew in front of the pig monster.

"Huh? A pesky human? Then die and rot." Pluton sucked up everything in front of him. Fubuki made the stones and pebbles that were flying quicker. Eliminating friction on them so they won't just burn up.

Thousands of stones and pebbles that travelled dozens of kilometers a second hit the giant pig right on the head. Turning his noggin into a beehive.

But it was still alive, so she lifted up the machete it had on its hand and swiped it right at its neck. Pluton's trident flew right at his decapitated head and stabbed it right onto the ground.

Blood spurted out of Pluton's head, raining all over the place. "Ew, it's raining blood." Tatsumaki frowned.

Ramiel controlled the blood and started absorbing it into his body. And slowly but surely, Pluton's body as well. "Espers are really amazing against big enemies like these." Samus nodded at Fubuki.

"You took care of it easily, Fubuki! Nee-chan is proud of you." Tatsumaki hugged her and Fubuki got embarrassed. "Nee-san, not in front of Samus and Ramiel."

"You two really got closer eh? That's good, because we're going on vacation." Ramiel smiled at them and remembered the nice and quiet Totsuki. People just fought with cooking.

"A vacation? Why though? Isn't your world extremely dangerous?" Fubuki was confused, because they must have come from a really dangerous place if they managed to get that strong.

"Not really, it's pretty peaceful where we're staying right now. Come on, let's go." Samus called for her ship and they started travelling back to the world of Shokugeki.

"Can you tell us more about this place?" Tatsumaki was interested in the place they were going to. "It's just a normal place. No monsters, no heroes, no espers, no powers. A mundane and easy going world if you ask me." Ramiel shrugged.

"So that's what you mean by vacation? I guess it is nice to have a little break. Nee-san has been training me a lot." Fubuki sighed.

"Well, look at how far you've come. You can take care of dragon level threats now because of my training. You ungrateful girl." Tatsumaki pouted at her.

Samus' ship arrived at their estate and the esper sisters saw the large city. "Woah, the cities here are spaced more evenly. Probably because there's no threats to destroy them." Tatsumaki thought it was really nice.

Ramiel busted out the rolls Royce phantom and they travelled to Totsuki. "If you guys want a glass of wine, just push the button at the compartment there." He suggested.

"Wow, what a fancy car. This thing looks expensive." Fubuki checked it out and as a young and vain lady, she really loved it.

They then went to the stadium and Alexandra was waiting for them with the others. "What the hell have you been doing there? You and Samus are insanely stronger."

She squinted her eyes and he shrugged. "You know, just the usual things." He spread his arms and Alexandra hugged him. Tatsumaki and Fubuki were then shocked when she kissed him.

"Hey... She's your sister right?" Fubuki squinted her eyes with Tatsumaki. "Yeah, she's my twin sister. Alexandra, these two are the esper sisters. Fubuki and Tatsumaki." He introduced them.

"Hello, did you follow him here with promises or something? I swear, he always goes somewhere and comes back with women." Alexandra rolled her eyes and pouted at him.

"N-no, he's just teaching us how to use our powers better." Tatsumaki replied and was looking at his retinue. Samus, Alexandra, and Tifa were amazons. Dwarfing her completely, though Aerith is close to her size which she had an affinity with immediately.

"Hey you're cute, how old is your little sister?" Aerith asked Fubuki, betraying her trust immediately.

"Hey! I'm her older sister. And I'm probably older than you!" Tatsumaki's curls floated up like it was hissing.

"She's older than all of us Aerith, be polite." Ramiel snickered on the side and Tatsumaki glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, come on, let's watch Soma battle Hayama and Ryo." Tifa sighed and pulled them to the stadium to watch the finals.

Everybody raided Erina's VIP lounge, with Ramiel kicking the door down. "Yo, Erina. What's up? We can sit here right?" He brought his own couch and they sat on it.

"Ramiel!?" Erina was happy to see him because he apparently went missing for a sudden business trip, but he came with a larger entourage and a mature woman with him.

"Ahh, this is Fubuki and Tatsumaki. A guest of ours, don't worry. They won't cause any trouble. And the two of them probably have better palates than yours." He shrugged. Tatsumaki and Fubuki's senses as an elite esper outclasses normal people by miles.

"Hi~ Erina! What!? Ramiel is back!" Alice immediately lunged at him and he caught her. "What's the big idea? You're really excited, Alice." He patted her head and she purred like a cat.

"Y-you... You like young girls, is it?" Tatsumaki squinted her eyes at him. "No, not really? I like them ripe, just like that over there." He pointed at one of the judges and it's Alice's mom Leonora.

"Muuuu! Even though I'm right here, you're still talking about my mom!" Alice pouted at him and he put her down. "Well, it's not really a secret that your mom is a good woman." He shrugged.

"H-her mom!? You want the mom and daughter combo!?" Fubuki's imagination ran wild. "S-shut up you guys! You're in my VIP lounge you know!?" Erina shouted at them.

"Erina, don't be such a slouch. You're so angry as usual, unlike when you're reading shoujo manga and think that holding hands is lewd." Alexandra huffed at her.

"Wha!? How did you know that!" Erina was shocked. "Rude, holding hands is lewd. Right, Erina?" Ramiel put his hand on hers and copied Makima's lewd hand holding.

"How long are their fingers, how cold is their palm, what is the shape of their ears." Ramiel started playing with her hand and put it on his cheek.

"Awawawawa." Erina was getting catatonic. "Have you ever been bitten, Erina? Remember this, so you would know even if you can't see. Just from the pressure that I bite you, you'll know it's me." Ramiel bit her finger lightly and brushed it softly on his lips.

"Aeugh." Erina went lights out, blushing heavily. "T-that's... Why didn't you do it to me!?" Alice was blushing heavily, mad and aroused.

"Well, I was trying to make a point. And she was the one who raised it in the first place. Anyways, how about we go visit your mom?" Ramiel excused himself and they went to the podium.

"D-damn... That was hot." Fubuki blushed with Tatsumaki. "Hmph, of course he makes hand holding really lewd. I was talking about the normal one! Normal!" Alexandra huffed and she squinted her eyes at Erina who was unconscious.

"Yo, Leonora. Long time no see, you're as beautiful as ever yeah? I heard Hinako also came to judge earlier, but I wasn't here." Ramiel went up to Leonora and lifted her chin.

"Ahhh, Ramiel~ It's big good to see you desu. I'm so mad angry you know? My Alice-chan lost." Leonora smiled at him and her daughter was puffing her cheeks.

"Mom! You're hogging him!" Alice pouted. "I can seldom see Ramiel, Alice-chan. Give mom a stop okay?" She still spoke in horrendous japanese.

"You can talk to me in danish remember?" Ramiel sighed and pinched her cheeks, thinking her japanese was really cute.

"Uhhh, Senzaimon-dono. Is what I'm seeing for real?" Dojima asked him and shocked can't even describe his feelings about what's happening.

"It is, my family is in good hands." Senzaimon nodded and thought they had a good relationship, unlike his daughter Mana's family.

"At one side, the prince of aroma. Hayama Akira! One of his opponents is the dictator of the kitchen, Kurokiba Ryo! And the dark horse, a cook in a diner. Yukihira Soma!" The emcee announced the people who were about to have a three-way battle.

"Prince of aroma? And dictator of the kitchen? Pft. Bwahahaha!" Tatsumaki bursted out laughing in the lounge.

"They really like their drama and theatrics here." Tifa explained with a wry smile, even she thought that their nicknames were weird.

"This place is weird, is this what humans will do if they're really bored? I guess not having monsters attack every single day will result in something like this." Fubuki concluded and nodded sagely.

"So that's the kind of place you guys were on? Monsters attack 24/7?" Zack was curious and thought that it would be a fun place to train.

"Yeah, monsters that can destroy cities always attack. Spira is peaceful as hell if you compare it." Samus reminisced and Yuna gasped.

"That chaotic? Did Ramiel do something about it at least?" She was concerned. "Yeah, because of what he let happen before we went here. One of the cities got turned into a hub for heroes. Roads were sprawled all over the cities for easier access. And the heroes can live there to get to places quicker." Tatsumaki remembered the changes in A city.

While they were talking about their adventures, Alexandra got vexed that Samus and Ramiel were much stronger now. So she thought of travelling too.

"Hey, Tifa. I want to go somewhere, an adventure to get stronger yeah?" Alex suggested to her and Tifa nodded. "Un, it's not really fair that they managed to get much stronger." Tifa pouted at Samus.

"Heh, don't worry. You'll get there pretty easily. We just got lucky that there were tons of monsters there. And we're specialized in unique skills to have exponential growth there." Samus shrugged and cheered them up.

"Hmm, I'll let him handle things here for now. Me and Tifa are going on an adventure!" Alexandra declared.

"Lulu, can we go?" Yuna was quite interested. "No, their adventures are really different to your pilgrimage in Spira Yuna..." Lulu knew that they'll be killing people to where ever they would be going.

"Awww, but relaxing here for now is really nice anyways. So I guess it's fine?" Yuna was a bit disappointed, but she accepted it just fine. Making Lulu sigh in relief.

"Hey, why aren't you including us in it?" Aerith raised a brow. "You relax here for now. We're going to go for a hardcore run." Alexandra thought she should just enjoy some more time with peace.

While they were talking, the first competitor served his dish. Starting with Ryo, his cooking was in a heat resistant film, locking all the aroma and flavor inside of the pocket. Using a technique that Alice would normally use.

"This is my autumn pacific saury cartoccio! It is similar to acqua pazza, go on and enjoy." He grinned and the judges started tasting.

With the Pacific saury being at season, it was fattier and juicier. Ryo also specialized in seafood and cooked in a port town in Scandinavia since he was a kid.

He was able to pick the best fish in the market in the morning. With perfect firmness and development of inosinic acid due to its muscles breaking down after death, developing umami.

"Such a powerful and violent flavor!" Senzaimon went bare chested.

"Ahhh, it seems we would see my mother stripping." Alice announced.

"Ehhh? Right here, in public!?" Yuki shouted out and thought that would be bad. The polar star dorm residents blushed and Leonora put her hand on her chest. They thought she would go topless just like Senzaimon.

"What a splendid dish, first. Its visual impact is superb. Your plan was definitely effective. It embodies modern cooking's elegant presentation. The taste is excellent and is quite complex when combined with other seafood." She started her monologue in perfect japanese.

"My mother sheds her horrible japanese and starts speaking really fast if she eats something good." Alice shrugged.

"Ahhh, I remember that now. Oba-sama, you need to let the other contestants present their dish too." Erina sighed at her aunt's antics.

"Erina-chan!? How big rude, calling your aunt obaa-sama? Are you telling me that I am a granny now? Rubbing your youth on my face! Well, Ramiel disagrees." Leonora huffed.

"Ahhh, obaa-san and oba-san are different!" Erina argued. The next one who served is Hayama, his dish was pacific saury carpaccio.

"Ohhh, such delectable appearance desu. Then, let us taste." Leonora smiled at its appearance. "Please wait, I still need to give the finishing touches."

Hayama took out a blowtorch and started searing the fish to give it a better flavor.

"Ohhh? It was seared so easily. Even though fish are harder to do so?" Dojima was curious.

The judges started their tasting and Hayama smirked. "Ohhh! Using the innards of the fish to highlight the sweet fat of the saury. And only using all spice to balance them together." Senzaimon took off his shirt once again.

"But this is no possible with just searing desu." Leonora squinted her eyes.

"Yes, I used Kaeshi. A common base for Japanese sauces of soy sauce, mirin, and sake. So when I seared it. The fish caramelized easily and locked in all the flavors." Hayama smiled.

Yukihira then arrived at the nick of time, before the time limit ended. "Hoh? This definitely will excite those who eats rice frequently." Dojima commented as Soma served his dish in a bowl.

"Ojiya-style pacific saury takikomi rice! Enjoy." Soma used aged fish in salted rice bran. A technique common in Hokkaido to enhance the umami and flavor of the fish.

"It seems you have found your own technique to compete with their superior senses. Yukihira Soma, impressive." Senzaimon nodded at him.

"This certainly is on par with the other two's pacific saury. This deep flavor is even better, but in its complete state." Leonora shook her head.

"Then, we will now give out the results!" Dojima announced, but Yukihira busted out some white broth. "If you want another serving, I'll add something delicious." Soma smiled and the judges acquiesced.

"Yare, yare. Soma-chan, did you learn nothing?" Ramiel shook his head at him and he started getting nervous again, breaking into a cold sweat.

"You're doing Ryo's mistake earlier. I thought you were a pretty observant fellow that learns from his mistakes. But I misjudged you, gimmicks like that won't let you win." Ramiel also took a bowl and started tasting his dish.

After taking a bite with his broth added, he shook his head and knew that Ryo's and Hayama's dish are much better than his. Though he didn't give a comment again because he wasn't a judge.

"This mellow and creamy taste... Soy milk? With miso and parmegiano. So that's where the creaminess comes from. And it is a great accompaniment to the deep flavor of the aged pacific saury." Senzaimon nodded at his final dish.

"Then? Let's gift our results desu?" Leonora smiled and Dojima nodded. "The winner is... Hayama Akira!" He announced and Ryo immediately complained of course.

"What!? But my cartoccio's bold flavors should've beaten his carpaccio!" Ryo couldn't accept it. "Kurokiba Ryo, this was decided by one thing. The signature taste that makes a chef, a unique one of his kind." Dojima explained, but he was still confused.

"Hayama Akira has pursued his type of cooking faithfully. Creating his own brand of dishes that screams his name. A reflection of his personality as a chef!" Senzaimon pointed at Hayama.

"A personality of a chef?" Soma was confused as well. "Yes, Yukihira-kun. True originality of a chef. In which you can identify them by their cooking. A chef that establishes his name with his original dishes or techniques." Leonora nodded at the decision.

"Yo, Hayama. You still have ingredients left to make it? Then can you whip up some of it for me?" Soma looked at him and wanted to know why it beat him.

"Me too! Cook some too, you spice bastard!" Ryo shouted at him. "Huh? Go cook your own, you gloomy bastard when he doesn't have his bandanna on." Hayama huffed, but he still prepared some.

"It seems that those trio will be quite an interesting group." Dojima smiled and thought they would be a good competitive group.

"Hey, Leonora. Want to have a nice dinner at my place? I have the wine ready too." Ramiel took out a bottle of wine. "Hngh~ Ramiel-chan, you definitely know what a lady wants." Leonora swooned.

"Mou! Mom! Don't let yourself get seduced by him that easily! I mean, he's hot and the best. But he's supposed to be mine!" Alice jumped on Ramiel's back and clung to him tightly.

"He's not yours Alice, not until he says so." Alexandra raised a brow at her and she went limp. She can't win against his sister after all.

"Now! How about to spice things up a bit!? Senzaimon, get me some ingredients right this instant. We will prepare food for everyone in the stadium!" Ramiel announced and the crowd went wild.

They served their specialties in their restaurant for hundreds of people and a riot almost happened. Because they all wanted to be first.

The polar star dorm celebrated Soma and Megumi being in the main competition. While Ramiel and the others had a party in his house.

"Ara, so this is your house Ramiel. Quite the tasteful home you have." Leonora complimented the estate. "Don't you have work to do in Denmark, mom?" Alice asked with both sadness and jealousy.

She rarely sees her mother after all. "Oh, that? Ramiel-chan here will take care of it for me. Isn't that right?" She hugged his arm and he sighed. "Yeah, sure. I can give you a few days off."

"What!? How can he give you a few days off?" Alice was confused because she thought he was just a high schooler.

"That's a secret, Alice-chan." Leonora shushed her and Erina who was following from behind felt quite out of place. "Erina, come on. You guys coordinated the competition. It must be quite tiring, don't worry about Hisako. She'll come back, after all... I have a nice surprise for Totsuki." He smirked.

"Hmm, what's that supposed to be?" Ikumi was curious and wanted to know.

"What!? You're in highschool here?" Tatsumaki squinted her eyes at him. "Nee-san, shut up. That's supposed to be a secret here." Fubuki put a hand on her mouth too late.

They then erased their recent memory so they won't know that. "Nii-sama. I'll be travelling with Tifa. I can't let myself be outdone by you." Alexandra smiled and he patted their heads.

"Well, I'll give you this at least." He gave them a stim of his cells so they could adapt quicker. "That'll help you with your little training yeah?" He kissed their foreheads.

"Nii-sama... Thank you, we'll definitely catch up with you. Just wait and see." Alexandra gave a confident smile.

"Un, we can't let Samus get the best of us. We were trained by you first after all." Tifa grinned and looked at Samus challengingly.

"Have fun!" Yuna waved them goodbye. "Bring some souvenirs yeah?" Aerith sighed at their desire to not lag behind.

Cloud and Zack simply nodded at them and Lulu wished them a safe trip. "You better be as strong as me when you return." Samus gave them a pat on the back.

"Of course, but we have to party first right?" Alex hurried them to go into the house so they could have a nice party.

"We can't go back to that place we first travelled to Alex, Ramiel forbade us to go there. He said it's really dangerous there." Tifa was talking with Alexandra on where to go.

"Let's just wing it, lady luck will smile upon us." Alexandra nodded sagely and they entered the void.

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After a few days, Totsuki announced another test for the students after the autumn selection. They will be conducting a Stagiaire.

The first years will be interns in a very special place. Only possible because of a generous restauranteur that allowed them to do so.

Hundreds of students gathered in front of a skyscraper in Tokyo. And they immediately felt their blood run cold upon witnessing the name of the restaurant they were going to conduct their Stagiaire in.

"B-Babel... T-the legendary tower of Babel." A student mumbled, looking at the building as they broke into a cold sweat.

"Is Totsuki serious? T-this isn't a joke right?" Ikumi gulped, but she found her mouth to be dry.

"Grandfather, isn't this too much?" Erina frowned, it would seem that only a handful of first years will be left after this Stagiaire.

"Oi, why are you guys so nervous?" Soma asked his dorm mates. "Yukihira! Are you insane!? Don't you know what this place is!?" Yuki shouted at him.

"Chill, that's why I'm asking you know?" He was confused and Ryoko sighed. "Ara, Yukihira. This place, is the tower of Babel. This whole building is a restaurant. 99 of them to be exact." Alice smirked.

"I'm not surprised, Yukihira Soma. You are ignorant after all. This tower is the battle field of the best in the world. Even top level chefs that apply here would be happy to be a dishwasher. That's how prestigious this place is. After all, in all those 99 restaurants that serve different cuisines all over the world... All of them have 3 Michelin stars." Erina explained and Soma's eyes widened.

They then heard a clap. "Excellent explanation Erina-chan. Welcome to Babel, I am Ramiel. The head chef of floor 76 to 100." Ramiel who was wearing his chef uniform appeared.

"I am Samus Aran, the head chef of the 51st to 75th floor." Samus went beside him and crossed her arms.

"Hi! I'm Yuna, I am the head chef of the 26th to 50th floor you know?" Yuna smiled at the students.

"Lulu, 1st to 25th floor. You will be tested here for one week. And almost all of you, will be expelled. Struggle and wriggle as much as you can." Lulu smirked at the hundreds of students.

"R-Ramiel? Everyone? You are the ones who run this place?" Erina was shocked to her core.

Everybody then knew why they were the best. The undisputed monarchs of cooking. It was so simple, because they had no equals.

"Hmmm, it seems that only a select few will pass? This will be the most brutal test of Totsuki in its history. Past, present, and future. Lady luck surely didn't smile upon you today." Ramiel grinned at them and the students despaired.

"What are you waiting for? Team up with your pairs and be honored to serve at the top restaurant in the whole world, begin!" Senzaimon who was in the site shouted and everybody scrambled for survival.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.