After being ignored the whole time, Takumi couldn't take it anymore as veins bulged out of his forehead.
"You all must've been in this together, you basta---!"
However, just as he was about to finish, the room suddenly went dark, and a loud voice was heard, "Everyone, thank you for waiting! Please turn your attention to the stage!"
"..."
Takumi could only roll his eyes as the moderator for the opening began her welcoming greetings to the participating students.
The atmosphere in the room immediately became heavy.
Some were excited, most were nervous, and a few were nonchalant as strong footsteps echoed as the moderator continued, "Now, let's start the ceremony with the opening speech by our director, Senzaemon Nakiri!"
As the figure cloaked in shadow walked up to the stage, everyone could see their principal, Senzaemon Nakiri, slowly making his way toward the podium.
His stern expression and strong presence made most of the students even more nervous. He closed his eyes, taking a soundly loud deep breath that echoed across the room.
"...!?"
However, as he did that, something might have gone down the wrong throat, and he started choking at the podium.
"Gahk! Gahk!!"
"D-Director!?"
The moderator rushed to him, her panicked voice reverberating across the room as Senzaemon continued choking.
"..."
Every single student in the stadium could only look on with dumbfounded expressions, staring at the choking old man, completely speechless.
"Don't worry, I just choked a little..."
Senzaemon slightly shook his head and gestured for the moderator to back up.
"Ahem..."
He slowly straightened his back again at the podium.
Opening his sharp eyes and staring down at the students, he continued, "The air in this room fills my mind and body with a flow of energy..."
"...He just choked though?"
"Yeah, instead of energy, I think he just sucked in his remaining life..."
"That's rude, but I guess it's true..."
The students couldn't help but murmur among themselves, casting skeptical glances at their principal.
Senzaemon continued his speech, introducing the room the students were standing in as Chandra's Room, which used to hold food wars between the Elite Ten.
He also gestured to the portraits on the high wall, placed there in honor of the first seats of the Elite Ten throughout the history of Totsuki Culinary Academy.
"And in this place..."
Senzaemon narrowed his eyes as he continued, "...the Autumn Election finals will be held!"
"...!"
Hearing those words sent an uproar through the students as they realized they were standing right at the final stage.
Their nervousness slowly dissipated, replaced with anticipation.
"That means..."
"Right, only the qualified could compete here..."
They wanted to compete here, putting everything on the line to win it!
Senzaimon smiled, knowing exactly what these students were thinking.
However...
His smile slightly faltered when he saw someone he was familiar with doing a headstand push-up, before quickly regaining his composure.
With a gleam in his eyes, Senzaimon spread his arms apart and declared, "You will be adding a new page to history here! To all of you students of the 92nd class of Totsuki, may we meet here again!"
"Whoa!"
The students were fired up by Senzaimon's strong speech, cheering as their principal slowly left the stage.
Taking her place, the moderator spoke, "We will now explain the rules of the preliminaries..."
The theme for the preliminaries was curry, as mentioned in the letters sent to each student. Sixty students were participating this year, divided into two blocks, A and B, with thirty students competing in each block.
To expedite the election process, only the top eight students from the preliminaries would advance, meaning only the top four from each block could compete on the main stage.
"Wha?"
"They're eliminating that many at once?"
"...This is crazy."
Their excitement slowly dissipated as they realized the preliminaries were harsher than they thought.
And immediately, they looked at each other warily.
The moderator didn't care about their reactions as she ended her speech, "You will have three hours to cook, so please go to your assigned halls immediately. The preliminaries round is about to begin!"
With those words, the students immediately scattered, hurrying to their assigned halls.
They had a lot to prepare, now that they knew the harshness of the preliminaries round!
If they thought giving their 100% might be enough before, they were now determined to go beyond their limits!
The main halls were located right next to each other, one for block A and the other for block B. The building itself was massive, built with multiple workstations in the middle.
Right before them stood the stage where the judges were taking their seats.
The space was completely surrounded by a large area for spectators, creating the atmosphere of a massive arena.
Before long, both halls for blocks A and B filled up with students as they gathered the ingredients they needed at their workstations.
"They look busy..."
"Wait, do you see that?"
"Shit, what? They managed to bring in that person!?"
In Block B, students who were not participating in the competition also filled the building, comfortably seated in their designated area.
However...
As they looked at the people who took their seats in the judges' area, they noticed one particular individual they immediately recognized her because of her fame as one of the heads of the Haubi Food Corporation.
Orie Sendawaara!
She had long, straight dark blonde hair styled in a hime-cut as she confidently walked up to the stage, drawing everyone's attention for two massive reasons.
"Hmm?"
Orie noticed Ishiki on the stage as he bowed in greetings to her.
She made a soft grumpy sound that sounded innocent as she spoke, "Ishiki-kun, how long are you gonna avoid me?"
"Oh, please. I'm just a student, Orie-sama..."
Ishiki replied with a polite smile.
"Who cares about that? Just drop out and don't worry about it. I'll take care of you forever," Orie's soft voice echoed across the judges' table as she sat down, "Why don't you just be mine already?"
"..."
The other judges wore uncomfortable expressions, their faces turning red at her inappropriately suggestive offer.
"Why don't you just enjoy the show today?"
Ishiki, however, remained persistent, continuing to reject her advances.
"Hmph, I'll change your mind someday," she huffed, pouting in annoyance before turning her attention to the students at their workstations.
Orie quickly scanned the room, her sharp eyes identifying some of the talented students at a glance.
However...
"...What is that kid doing?" she muttered, noticing something odd among the participants.
"Huh?"
The other judges also turned to look, their eyes widening in surprise.
"Ah, he's... well, doing a promotion?"
Ishiki replied with a wry smile, unable to hold back his amusement.
He turned to see Tsuna setting up a massive banner with his restaurant's address clearly written on it.
Not just that, everything in his workstation seemed to be custom-made, bearing his restaurant's logo.
"So this is why he took longer to prepare," Alice facepalmed, sighing at the sight.
She knew Tsuna didn't usually take much time to prepare, so she had suspected something was up.
"...I just didn't know this something was such a shameless plug-in," Alice sighed again.
On the other hand, Orie was clearly dissatisfied as she crossed her arms and remarked, "How disgustingly shameless. I definitely wouldn't want him in my kitchen..."
"I wouldn't want to be in your kitchen even if you changed your mind, you fool," Tsuna scoffed as he went behind his workstation to prepare his ingredients.
Noticing the attention he was getting from the crowd, he smirked and said, "If you want money coming into your pocket, you gotta be shameless enough to advertise wherever you can..."
---
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