Chương 106: Side Story:”Days at the Happy Kitchen”

"Hey! Your technique is sloppy!" From the crack of dawn, the angry roar of the owner-chef, Dia, echoed through the kitchen. The one receiving his scolding head-on was Yu. An innocent "girl" boasting a sinful beauty inherited from her mother. Her physical age was stuck at sixteen, while her actual age was approaching eighteen. Her black hair, usually flowing naturally to her shoulders, was tied up above the nape of her neck and tucked neatly inside her hat.

Her slender arms holding the frying pan still looked a little unreliable. She puffed out her cheeks in slight dissatisfaction.

"Umm. I've been wondering about this for a while, but... why am I being made to cook too?" Originally, I was only supposed to work as a waitress. Yu tilted her head at the mysterious cooking training that had suddenly begun with fierce momentum.

"Whaaat!? You didn't even understand that!" Once again, a loud, heat-filled roar rained down. Since she was a woman, he never raised a hand against her, but if he ever found out her true identity, a fist would surely come as a bonus. Just like her senior apprentice often received.

"You said it yourself! That you wanted the power to save the world!"

"I certainly said that, but..." That was just me saying exactly what I thought about Will possibly pulling something again, and it was just a monologue to myself... Yu couldn't help but curse her careless self for being overheard by Dia-san, whom she lived with and was indebted to. Thanks to that, things had become extremely weird.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Everything! I have firmly heard your spirit!"

"Yes." Giving up on having a proper conversation, Yu nodded with eyes like a dead fish.

"Yu! What is absolutely necessary for humans? Say it!"

"Umm..." Thinking seriously while knowing there was probably only one expected answer, she felt there were many things, and she inadvertently fell into thought. Being serious in strange places was Yu's bad habit. As she mumbled, Dia finally got irritated and raised his voice.

"Slow! Something necessary for anyone to live! That is, Food! Everyone is hungry for food!" Then, showing off his sparkling white teeth, he pointed his index finger high.

"In short! Cooking is what saves the world!"

"Why that conclusion?"

"If you eat something delicious, everyone is happy! The joy of making, the smiles of everyone eating are wonderful!" He preached the motto of his proud restaurant, 『Happy Kitchen』. Yu didn't know how many times she had heard this.

"I see." Pushed by his momentum, Yu was strangely starting to be convinced. Being easily swept away by pushiness without malice was also her fatal weakness. Well, whatever. My cooking is steadily improving. Thinking it wasn't a bad thing, she inadvertently gave in." Jaaack!" Eventually, just before opening time, Dia shouted the name Jack loudly.

"Yaaas." A carefree man's reply came from the guest seating area. Soon, the young brown-haired man appeared in the kitchen.

"It's not that big of a shop, so I'll come properly without you shouting so loudly. Owner."

"Hmph. With that attitude, you lack spirit. Spirit." Dia, standing with his arms crossed, frowned.

"Jaaack~""Yo, Yu. Getting squeezed hard from the morning, huh."

"Ehehe." Yu smiled at him with a gesture of surrender. Jack was Dia's top apprentice and a senior apprentice to Yu. He doted on his junior "sister" apprentice who was close in age. So Yu was completely attached to him. She didn't know how he would react if he knew her true identity either. But Yu was surprisingly optimistic, thinking she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. Jack tapped her shoulder gently and said.

"It's about time to open. Leave this to me and go to the front."

"Okaaay." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Doing as told, Yu headed to the changing room first to change clothes. That room was a storage space emptied and prepared specifically for her, the only woman. Before opening and after closing, cooking training. And during opening hours, her original job. Namely, the job of a Waitress.

As the poster girl, she was making a splendid contribution to further improving the customer traffic of the shop, which was originally popular thanks to its taste. Poster girl. Yu couldn't help but wonder where she had gone wrong, considering she was a man a few years ago. But thinking any further would be rude to the "Watashi" (female me) who was synchronizing, so she decided not to think about it anymore. Finished changing, Yu had a staring contest with the mirror to do a final check if she looked perfect.

The design featured a contrast of a black blouse worn under a white frilly apron. An open chest peeked out from under the apron, and below, white over-knee socks left her thighs firmly exposed. The slightly high exposure seemed quite provocative, and she was bewildered at first (on this point, she couldn't help but feel Dia-san's taste subtly), but once she got used to it, it was nothing. It was opening time. Almost simultaneously, one of the regular male customers came in. Yu put on an outward-facing bright smile.

"Welcome. Table for one, right?"

"Yu-chan. You're cute today too."

"Fufu. Thank you. I'll guide you to your usual seat." It was tough at first, but once she got the hang of it, dealing with customers was second nature. Gradually, customers increased and it became busy. Yu hustled left and right, occasionally delighting customers by showing acrobatic dish carrying with exquisite balance. In the kitchen, Dia and Jack were moving busily like a flood. After lunchtime passed, it finally became a time zone where they could take a breather.

As if aiming for that timing, there was one visitor.

"Welcome. Oh, it's just Lenks." Lenks Stanfield. Yu's best friend and someone in a position to watch over her.

"I always think this, but hey. Isn't that attitude a bit much for a customer?"

"Because it's Lenks."

"Ah, right. My bad for being me..."

"It's not something to be so depressed about. Come this way." They had a contract where he would get free meals at the restaurant in exchange for fetching precious high-grade ingredients for free. Then, he started coming every day. Moreover, he came only to eat the dishes Yu made for practice, which were not yet at a level to be served in the shop. Faithfully coming with an empty stomach. Once a day. There were signs that he might not be eating anything else. Affection becomes perversion when it goes too far.

After seating him at his usual seat, Yu whispered to Lenks.

"We're running out of Reinbird eggs. Can you go get some?"

"Ehh. Those are a bit troublesome~""Hey. Pleeease." When she clung to his arm and pleaded with upturned eyes, Lenks fell instantly.

"Alright! Leave it perfectly to me!" Behind him as he got fired up, Yu stuck out her tongue in secret, thinking, "Easy as always."

"For you, I'll fetch thousands or tens of thousands of them!"

"That will make them extinct, so stop." Since he had the power to actually do it, Yu warned him just in case, though she thought he wouldn't. Later. For the first time in a while, the shop was closed for two consecutive days. Thinking such a chance was rare, Jack and Yu decided to cooperate and work hard on cooking training to approach the secret of Dia's taste. He was an old-fashioned person, the type who said to steal and learn.

Naturally, a lot of food would be made during training, but it felt wasteful to throw it away. Since they couldn't serve it to customers, Yu was wondering what to do. I wonder if Lenks will come. The moment she thought that, a gust of wind blew wildly and—"I felt like I was called somehow!"

"Woah. He really came." Yu was quite put off. She didn't remember using telepathy or anything. Could it be that this guy would listen to anything she thought or said? Such a silly thought crossed her mind, and somehow.

"Paw." (Ote)"Hoi." Lenks quickly put out his right hand.

"Spin." (Omawari)"Hei." Lenks did a spin while striking a unnecessarily cool pose. With a wink, no less." Come." (Chin-chin) Lenks put his hands on his crotch—and was blown away by Yu's Wind Magic.

"Don't try to pull it out with the flow!"

"Don't lead people on!" They laughed together.

"I'm going to do cooking training with Jack now. Since you're here, eat a lot before you go. You're hungry again anyway, right?"

"Ohh! That's more than I could wish for! But hey... aren't you getting seriously influenced?" Yu decided to ignore the latter half of his words. Entering the kitchen, Jack was already waiting. He was clad in an apron, overflowing with fierce fighting spirit. Going to a battlefield. It was such a man's face.

"For the next two days, I'm counting on you."

"Yeah. Same here." What Yu and Jack were challenging was the Happy Kitchen's legendary dinner menu, Dia Special A. They were challenging the impossible taste, said to be impossible for anyone but Dia himself to make. Two hours later, the first set was completed. Tasting it, both shook their heads.

"No good. It's completely different."

"Hmm. I wonder what's wrong." It wouldn't go well suddenly, but sighing at the completely lackluster response, Yu took the failed creation to Lenks at the guest seat. Lenks was excited about the luxurious meal he rarely saw.

"Whoa! Doesn't this look super delicious!"

"There's still a lot coming, you know."

"Leave it to me! I feel like I can eat any amount of this!" But Lenks didn't know. This was the beginning of true hell. 4th Set.

"Wrong. Dia-san's taste isn't like this!" Jack slammed his fist against the wall. He was biting his lip at his own immaturity. What is missing? What is different? He agonizes. Yu sympathized with him. She wanted to help him somehow.

"In my opinion—" Yu had the taste of the real Dia Special A clearly remembered in her 『World of Heart』. Based on that, she makes deductions. It was an endless waste of her Perfect Memory Ability.

"I think the soup here should be a little saltier. And for the Bugan, how about frying it from the hot water about 30 seconds earlier?"

"I see. That makes sense. Let's try it immediately." The two's battle continued. Morning came. The finished dinner counted the 9th Set.

"Sorry for the wait."

"O-oh... It's still coming..." By this time, Lenks had completely lost his energy. The only thing driving him was the fact that Yu made it. Only this single point.

"Yeah. Still a long way to go." Yu smiled brightly. There were dark circles under her eyes. Yu and Jack's desperate struggle continued endlessly. Trial and error stained with blood and sweat. Knife skills, heat control, cooking methods, timing. Continuing to devise everything. Sometimes blessed with luck, they steadily approached the goal step by step. And—"I'm... full... already. I'm... happy..." It was a death match that exceeded the limit.

Due to staying up all night and overeating, Lenks finally ran out of strength. His face was the peaceful smile of a man who had accomplished something. In the kitchen, Jack was trembling with joy.

"Th-this is it... This is the taste..."

"We did it... We finally did it!" Yu was moved together with him. There was the Perfect Dia Special A. Even if served to customers in the shop, no one would notice the difference. It was a masterpiece. Finally, they overcame the wall. They defeated the legend.

"Yu!"

"Jack!" Yu and Jack hugged each other tightly, overcome with emotion. The friendship cultivated by sharing joys and sorrows to the limit for two days and two nights was irreplaceable. Cooking is Happy. Yu was now strongly biting into the joy of making.

"Heh. Those guys seem to have climbed one more step. But the road to Cooking Master is still long and steep. I wonder if they can follow until the end." Watching the two's growth secretly from the shadows, Dia narrowed his eyes happily. It seemed the time to teach Dia Special B had come.