"That's what I'm saying! Sui, you've gone too far!"
Yoshino joined in, voicing her complaint loudly.
"Hey, did you hear? That transfer student wasn't selected for the Autumn Elections."
"Isn't that obvious? The winner of the Autumn Elections usually gets a spot in the Elite Ten, but that guy is already part of the Elite Ten!"
"Yeah, once the third years graduates, he'll officially take one of their places. How unfair!"
Students passing by whispered enviously, some with a hint of jealousy in their voices.
Meanwhile, Sui was considering whom he should choose as his companion. His gaze swept over Sōma, Megumi, Yoshino, and others. In terms of strength, Sōma was undoubtedly the strongest among them, and Sui knew Sōma would make it to the final four. Logically, Sōma would be the best choice, but he didn't really need Sui's guidance to succeed and claim the top prize.
Then, Sui's eyes landed on the trembling Megumi. After a moment's thought, he decided to choose her.
After all, Megumi was his partner.
In fact, Megumi wasn't weak. She had great potential and, according to the story's plot, she would eventually pass the preliminaries and make it to the quarterfinals.
"Megumi, come to my seminar after class," Sui said.
"Huh?" Megumi was surprised but quickly nodded. "Okay, I understand."
Later, Megumi arrived at the door of Sui's seminar room, feeling incredibly nervous.
"Why did Sui call me here alone? Is this... a date?"
Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and her heart began to race. Over time, Megumi had started to develop feelings for Sui.
But then...
"Wait, isn't Sui close to Miss Erina?"
As she was lost in thought, the door to the seminar room suddenly opened, and Sui appeared. He smiled at her and said, "You're here."
"Yes." Megumi nodded shyly, her face still red as she stepped inside.
The room was large and empty. Her heart began to flutter again.
"Is this really a date?" Megumi thought, panicking slightly. "If Sui asks me out, should I agree? But my mom always said not to date boys so easily. And what about Erina-san?"
Noticing Megumi's flustered state, Sui gave a small cough and said, "Megumi, the Autumn Elections are coming up soon, right?"
"Yes." Megumi snapped out of her thoughts and quickly nodded.
"For the next while, I'll be giving you some personal guidance to help you do better in the competition," Sui said.
"You... you're going to coach me personally?" Megumi blinked in surprise.
So, it wasn't a date, after all—just cooking lessons. While part of her was a little disappointed, Megumi felt mostly grateful. Sui cared enough about her to offer his help in preparing for the competition.
"Thank you, Sui! I'll do my best!" She bowed deeply in appreciation.
Sui nodded confidently. With the knowledge of what was to come, he knew he could help Megumi reach the quarterfinals in a short time. The system's minimum requirement was for her to make it into the top sixteen, but he knew there wouldn't technically be a "top sixteen" in the competition. It would come down to rankings by score.
According to the plot, Megumi would pass the preliminaries on her own and make it to the quarterfinals. His main task was to help her through the quarterfinals.
If Sui remembered correctly, Megumi's theme for the quarterfinals would be ramen.
Thinking about ramen, Sui realized there was someone far more skilled in this area than himself who could help her.
"Come with me. I want to take you somewhere," Sui said with a mysterious smile.
"Somewhere?" Megumi asked, a little confused, but she followed him anyway.
"Just follow me," Sui reassured her, pulling out his phone to make a quick call.
Sui led Megumi to a small commercial street not far from Totsuki Academy. On the street, a modest ramen cart sat parked, with a few customers enjoying bowls of ramen.
"Sui, why are we here? Are we eating ramen?" Megumi asked, confused. She wasn't sure why they had gone out of their way to eat such inexpensive ramen when they could have easily stayed on campus.
And besides, the cart didn't seem like it would offer anything particularly special.
Just then, a burly man wearing a knit cap emerged from the cart. The moment Megumi saw him, she gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
"T-Tōsuke-senpai?" she stammered.
The man was none other than Tōsuke Megishima, the third seat of Totsuki's Elite Ten!
"Why is Tōsuke-senpai here? Does he own this cart?" Megumi was utterly bewildered. She couldn't comprehend how the dignified third seat of Totsuki Elite Ten, who should be working with high-end restaurants, could be selling ramen on the streets from a humble cart.
This was as unbelievable as hearing that Eizan, another Elite Ten member, ran hundreds of gourmet establishments!
"Huh? It's you," Tōsuke said, recognizing Sui.
"Finally found you, senpai," Sui said, visibly relieved. He had spent considerable time tracking down Tōsuke's whereabouts, with help from Rindō.
Although Tōsuke was the third seat of the Elite Ten, he had a history of driving a ramen cart all over Japan, helping struggling ramen shops and saving them from bankruptcy.
Little did anyone know that the man behind this simple ramen cart was highly respected and referred to as "Young Master" by all the ramen shop owners in Japan. He was the unofficial leader of all the lower-tier ramen shops in the country!
"What do you want?" Tōsuke asked.
"I need a favor, senpai," Sui said with a smile.
"I owe you one. Just tell me what you need, and I'll help however I can," Tōsuke replied. He had always remembered the guidance Sui gave him during their time in Kuga Terunori's research group and felt indebted to him.
"I was hoping you could teach her how to make ramen," Sui said, gesturing toward Megumi.