I do not own Shokugeki no Soma. I only own this fanfic's story, and any new characters introduced within it.

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8:25 AM, The Chandra's Room

"Geez, what are we doing here so early?" Kuga yawned as the Elite 10 entered the arena.

"Must be some sort of dispute, if we're settling it with a Shokugeki." Etsuya explained.

"But with whom? Anybody trying to discourse something here?" Takumi asked.

Before any of the council members could shake their heads, Erina spoke up from within the kitchen.

"This will be a match that I contend!" She enunciated.

"Really? With who?" Satoshi asked, intrigued.

"With me." Haru stepped out from the kitchen as well and laid eyes on the ten members.

"Who the hell are you?" Nene demanded.

"My name's Haru, and today's Shokugeki will determine the fate of this school."

Megumi froze. She could see him in plain sight. She wasn't sure whether to be happy, run up and hug him, or be angry, run up and slap him. When was the last time they had spoken, or even seen each other? She had so many questions, but couldn't ask as the Shokugeki was about to begin.

"Haru-kun, you still haven't elaborated the rules, your forgetfulness to do so shows a great disadvantage on your part." Erina inquired.

"Relax, Little Nakiri, I'll explain just as soon as everyone takes their seat, then we can begin our little skirmish." Haru said calmly as Erina seethed at her new nickname.

Once everyone had their seats, the judges came onto the floor. They consisted of Gin Dojima, Mana Nakiri, and the First Class Bookman for the WGO, Anne.

"Well, if it isn't Haru, one of 4 chef's who can actually satisfy my tongue. It's a shame you don't visit more often." Mana greeted Haru as she took her seat.

"Hello to you too, Mana, and while it sounds tempting, I'm a rather nomadic person; but I'll stop by every once in a while." Haru winked at her.

Erina couldn't believe the obscenely casual conversation that was taking place between her mother and this disgusting stranger whom she had just met the day before. The audacity of this man!

"Haru." Gin tipped his head slightly to greet Haru.

"Gin." He responded back.

"Ah yes, the wonderful Anne, it's been too long!" Haru bowed at the young woman.

"Um- yes, hello again Haru-san." Anne replied, blushing slightly.

"Ugh." Erina turned away, cringing. Women were easily caught by his "charm" as well apparently.

"Well now that we're all here, let me explain the rules." Haru began.

"This shokugeki will consist of a single round, the judges will draw and pick a theme, then a main ingredient. Whomever finishes their dish first may present it to the judges, only a unanimous decision may decide the winner. Use of any skill is allowed, the only restriction being you cannot copy the opponents dish!" Haru announced.

"What exactly is at stake here? It wouldn't be much of a shokugeki without them you know?" Akira called from the bleachers.

"I'm glad you asked. In this match, if Erina Nakiri wins, I will personally get Soma Yukihira to return to Totsuki!"

The council members and judges were shocked.

"Is that really possible, or are you messing around with us!?" Takumi demanded.

"It is possible, in fact, I have Joichiro-san on speed dial to get Soma if the Little Nakiri wins." Haru replied.

"What if you win?" Hisako asked from within the whispering members.

"If I win, then the position of Headmaster will be given to me, and I'll have full control over Totsuki to do as I see fit."

"No way..." Megumi said.

"That hardly seems fair..." Kuga muttered.

...

"Well, if that's all, judges, if you'd be so kind as to choose the theme and main ingredient!?"

The council members watched in anticipation as the judges drew from a box.

"The theme of today's Shokugeki is... Dinner for Breakfast!" Anne announced.

...

"Eh?" The council wondered out loud, soon realizing the difficulty of this theme.

...

"WHHHAAATTT?!" They all screamed in unison.

"How the hell are they supposed to serve dinner for breakfast?!" Alice screeched.

"Hell itself would freeze over before that happened!" Eizan added.

"Serving something heavy for what's meant to be a light meal seems pretty ludicrous to me." Ryo said in his monotone, yet now slightly condescending voice.

"Hmph, you ruffians keel over at the mention of something like this, if any of you were real chef's, you would relish the challenge!" Erina scolded them.

"You're one to talk Erina, what with that knock-off you call God's Tongue," Mana said jokingly.

"I-..." Erina was about to spill over with rage when her mother announced the main ingredient.

"The main ingredient is... potatoes!"

As soon as it was mentioned, a near sea of potatoes, along with other ingredients somehow appeared on the right of the contestants.

"The time limit is 1 hour! You may not ask for outside help, or use any other resources outside this kitchen! Now then..." Gin began.

"I'll be rooting for both of you..." Mana whispered to Haru and Erina.

"...Begin!!" Gin roared and a timer on a big screen started counting down.

Erina and Haru raced to their stations, each holding a knife in hand.

The council watched in awe as both chef's gathered their ingredients, set up the necessary equipment and went about their cooking.

"Erina-sama looks... amazing." Hisako whispered as she stared at Erina's finesse with handling the potatoes.

She then looked over to Haru. He was moving rather quickly himself. His potatoes, however, had been left untouched as if he forgot to use the main ingredient.

"If Erina-chan could beat Yukihira-chin, there's no way this guy can, she simply has too much raw talent." Kuga pointed out to the spectators.

"As much as I hate Kuga, he's got a point. Erina has an extremely powerful ally on her side, that being her God's Tongue. Since she can taste her dishes throughout the process of cooking, she can identify and correct any imperfections that may have occurred. Add that to her already immense talent as a chef, and this Haru guy is gonna be facing something on a completely different level." Nene explained.

"Well didn't Mana-san say that Haru was one of four chef's who could actually satisfy her? I'm not sure if this is accurate, but it seems like her tongue is even more delicate than Erina's, considering only four people in the entire world can cook up something that doesn't make her gag. If he can meet standards that high, then maybe we haven't given him enough credit." Satoshi countered.

"Yeah, but by the way he was talking earlier, it sounds like he's underestimating Erina's abilities." Alice said.

As they discussed amongst themselves, Ryo noticed that Tadokoro hadn't said a word since the match had begun.

"Oi, Tadokoro you haven't said anything at all, that's unlike you, something wrong?" He asked.

She didn't respond and was instead writing the character for 'brother' on her hand, then proceeded to put in her mouth as if she ate it, then repeated.

"Oi. Earth to Tadokoro, are you in there?" He gestured by poking her in the shoulder.

"Eh? Eh?" She said, turning her head left and right furiously.

At this point everyone had turned to look at her in a sort of freaked way, as if she had been possessed.

Before they could say anything, though, Erina had finished and was about ready to serve the judges.

"This is the pinnacle of a potato's potential, Kanpachi with Potatoes Julienne." Erina said, serving the judges with grace in every step.

"What is this?..." Anne asked, glowing at the sight.

"This is a dish originally created by the great Masa Takayama. It involves julienning Idaho Potatoes in conjunction with paper-thin slices of kanpachi, or the greater amberjack, to put it the most simply."

...

"Mmmmm, the thin slices you've cut into both potato and fish give way for a light taste in my mouth, perfect for a breakfast themed bout."

"I recognize this dish, however, the overall feel has a slight sweeter taste to it, when it usually consists of a more salty foundation. How?" Gin asked.

"Knowing that breakfast is associated with a sweeter flavor than other mealtimes, I swapped in Sweet Potatoes for the typical Idaho Potatoes, making that sweetened tinge you feel right now." Erina explained.

"The kanpachi also tastes different. The salt and sugar would usually clash, making the dish effectively useless, but this somehow brings the two together. Explain yourself." Mana demanded.

"Simply using table salt would indeed render the dish abysmal, however, instead of just using the average filleting style on the kanpachi, I created my own Kanpachi Carpaccio. Using sunflower oil instead of olive oil, I was able to remove table salt from the equation, as sunflower oil has contents of sodium that aren't present in olive oil. In order to join both sugar and salt I used Pecorino Romano, sansho powder for a zing, and cilantro herbs as a way to mask the tang."

"She engineered her own version of this Kanpachi with Potatoes Julienne... And the only way to effectively describe it is... marvelous..." Anne exhaled, nearly moaning.

"It truly is the height of a potato's potential!" Gin agreed.

"Not bad at all." Mana finished.

...

"Wow! Erina's truly come so far since we were first-years! That dish looks absolutely mouth watering!" Alice nearly screamed, cheering Erina on.

"The God Tongue is the ace up her sleeve, it'll be hard for Haru-san to match that." Satoshi said.

The council was shocked by what Megumi said next,

"It's not enough..."

"What did you say, Tadokoro-chan?" Kuga leaned in closer.

"I said it's not enough!" She raised her voice.

"What do you mean?" Akira prompted.

"It doesn't matter how much experience she has, or if she has the God Tongue, it won't be enough to stop him..."

"What?"

"Erina was doomed to lose from the beginning."

"Tadokoro, you know that guy don't you?" Ryo asked calmly.

...

"Yeah," She began

...

Just then the navy haired man had finished his dish.

The judges seemed almost petrified as the beast of a man approached them, their gazes pierced by sharp, cyber yellow eyes, to make things worse, the mere aroma of his dish had everyone fidgeting, even Erina couldn't help but peer over to see what he was serving.

...

"That man..."

...

"Let's see what the Maestro of Platinum Dishes has to offer today." Mana smirked as Haru revealed his platter.

...

"Is my brother..."

...

Haru spoke.

...

"... Haruka Tadokoro."

...

"Buen provecho." He grinned, handing the dish over.

...

Author's Note: Hey guys! I thought it was a little cringey towards the end but most manga and anime have cliffhangers with that kind of buildup so :P. Also I probably got the cooking part of that wrong, but I cook for myself most of the time and I decided to search up different kinds of recipes with potatoes. I think it adds to the feel of Food Wars, so it's good. Thank you all for reading, and as always, I will see you in the next chapter, bye now!

-Kano

...

Alright, I think its around here where my writing improves... So maybe I won't have to make as many corrections from here on out ;)