The main hall of the most prestigious building in Totsuki Academy was once again crowded as students filled the arena for the semi-finals.
"Whoa!"
"This lineup of judges is crazy..."
"Yeah, that's so cool!"
Their murmurs reverberated across the arena as they looked at the impressive panel of judges today.
They were already familiar with Gin, Inui, and Mizuhara since they had met them at the training camp at the start of the semester.
However, the other two were not nobodies either!
Some had their eyes on the short woman with purple eyes and dark blue hair, Taki Tsunozaki. Yet, contrary to their excitement seeing her...
"Hmph, look at those students screaming. So annoying..."
Tsunozaki clicked her tongue, finding it distasteful for them to be this loud.
However, another judge with long, washed-pink hair smiled gently and commented, "Just let them be senpai. They must be truly excited to watch the semi-finals this time..."
"Fufu, I agree with Sonoka-chan this time."
Inui spoke as she laughed gently, her hand slightly covering her mouth.
She agreed with Sonoka Kikuchi, which made Tsunozaki feel slightly annoyed.
"You both are always teaming up on me like that, huh?"
"Well, I guess I wasn't surprised by these names..."
On the side, Mizuhara spoke while glancing at the large monitor right up at the ceiling, which listed the names of those competing in the semi-finals.
She was quite familiar with all of them.
Mizuhara then glanced at the pairings and noticed Soma was facing Tsuna, raising her eyebrows.
"Oh? That oddly creative student is facing Ito, huh? That should be interesting..."
"Haha, of course."
Gin agreed, having come to a realization about who Soma was last night after carefully thinking about who Soma had reminded him of.
It was a bit surprising since his close friend Joichiro had basically lost contact with him.
Gin couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, recalling their interaction last night.
"It was as if I was interacting with his exact same copy..." he mumbled to himself.
Meanwhile, among the crowd at the Autumn Election, the Polar Star Dorm members were looking around anxiously. They couldn't find Soma anywhere, and Megumi voiced their concern.
"Ano, has anyone seen Soma-kun?"
"No, I thought you'd know?"
"Hmm, well, it's Soma we're talking about, so..."
"Yeah, I guess he's probably just somewhere around here?"
They exchanged glances before agreeing. Soma was indeed an oddball sometimes, so they shrugged it off as nothing significant.
As they decided to just focus on the moment, a voice reverberated across the arena, "Everyone! Welcome back to the Autumn Election...!"
The moderator's voice was loud as it turned the atmosphere completely.
The crowd buzzed with anticipation knowing the first round was about to start along with her speech.
As the opening speech concluded, the moderator wasted no time introducing the theme for the first round. "The theme for the first round is Western-styled cuisine! And now, let me introduce the participants..."
"...from the left side of the arena...!"
With her announcement, a familiar figure emerged from the left wing's entrance. The moderator excitedly shouted, "Akira Hayama!"
"Whoaaa!"
"That means...!"
"Yes! And his opponent, fighting for the ticket to the final..."
The moderator gestured to the right wing, adding, "Ryo Kurokiba!"
The arena's atmosphere exploded with excitement as both participants made their way to their workstations in the middle of the arena.
These two were among the well-known top-tier students of their batch this year.
"Ah? Dojima-senpai?"
A surprised voice echoed as Soma slowly made his way through the crowd, spotting Gin sitting in the center seat among the judges. This made him realize what Gin had mentioned last night about being surprised, and he shook his head with a chuckle, "I guess it was a surprise indeed..."
"Soma-kun!"
Megumi's relieved shout broke through the crowd's noise as Soma turned his head, seeing her waving at him.
The other Polar Star Dormitory members called him over, and he shouted back while making his way there, "Gimme a moment!"
"Mou, Soma-kun! We were worried!"
Megumi spoke as soon as Soma arrived, her voice filled with concern.
Soma scratched his head awkwardly with a sheepish laugh, "Haha, my bad. I suddenly got an inspiration this morning, so I had to spend some time thinking..."
"Mou..."
Megumi pouted while the others tried to get him to spill what it was all about, but Soma only replied vaguely, making them roll their eyes in exasperation.
"Quite a lively bunch, huh?"
A bit further from the crowd, in a spot where no seats were available, Tsuna slowly made his way to the edge to see the match below.
Despite the distance and the noise, he could hear the voices clearly, indicating just how loud they had been.
Tsuna shook his head, then sharply turned to someone in the distance and blinked in surprise, "Huh? That is..."
"...Sakamoto?"
He saw Mimasaka pushing someone in a wheelchair, seemingly just out of the hospital.
Tsuna's lips slightly twitched the sight.
He wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel bad for Sakamoto, knowing the guy loved money more than anyone else, even himself!
"Now that I think about it, that's kinda funny, keke..."
Still, Tsuna couldn't care less about Sakamoto's condition. The profit Sakamoto anticipated from fostering new bonds with the students Mimasaka had defeated would more than make up for any expenses.
"Seems like you're having fun, young man..."
A familiar strong and authoritative voice was heard from behind.
Tsuna turned, shaking his head, and replied, "I thought you'd be busy. What is this? If you're this free, you should sit there and be the judge. That'd be more fun..."
"Hahaha! You're still as blunt as always... I like that..."
Senzaemon laughed heartily as he stood beside Tsuna, looking down at the arena where both contestants were being told to start cooking.
"So, what brings you here? Watching the competition from the sidelines?"
"It's good to see the young talent at work."
Senzaemon nodded, his eyes gleaming with interest. He turned to Tsuna and smiled. "What about you? Don't you have to compete after this round? Surely you haven't given up yet, right?"
"Give up? Me? Soma won't have the money to make me surrender..."
Tsuna chuckled, and Senzaemon raised his eyebrows at the response. "So, you can be bought?"
"Depends on what I had to let go. This election? Sure, I don't really care much about this competition anyway..."
Tsuna replied while adding, "But there are some other things I can't give up, no matter the price..."
"Oh?"
Senzaemon was truly interested this time. The young man before him sounded intriguing, so he asked, "What is it then?"
"You want to know?"
Tsuna turned to look at the principal of Totsuki Culinary Academy, who nodded with strong interest gleaming in his eyes.
His expression turned stony, "A mother I'd like to fry rice for..."
...or M.I.L.F for short!
It was something Tsuna would never compromise!
"...?"
Senzaemon blinked, processing the unexpected answer.
However...
"Ahahaha, I see, I see..."
To Tsuna's surprise, the old man then burst into hearty laughter.
He smiled before turning to Tsuna, his expression suddenly turning stony mirroring Tsuna's as he added, "That's quite unexpected... comrade!"
"...!"
This time it was Tsuna's turn to widen his eyes in surprise at the revelation that the principal of the academy was actually a fellow man of culture.
He couldn't help but comment, "...I guess age is just a number, huh?"
"Ohohoho..."
Senzaemon chuckled, his eyes twinkling with amusement.