"I have to be the lead cook?" Megumi says in a panic tone.

"Yes, you must choose the recipe alone. The Phantom must only be of support to her." Dojima Gin says.

Soma asks, "But I was the one who made the challenge for the Shokugeki, so why?"

"Yukihira...let's say you win with your cooking skills and make Tadokoro survive, what good will it do for you? That wouldn't change the fact that she's a hanger-on." Dojima says. "She would just be disqualified eventually on another assignment. Or would she have Yukihira...or someone else saves her again? In Totsuki, you must prove your worth with your own skills. That means, whether Tadokoro should stay or not in Totsuki is something she has to show herself. Starting tonight, at this moment...in this kitchen. Tadokoro-kun, you are a chef."

At the same time, Shinomiya already knows what he is going to make as he starts to prepare the food, and he says, "I feel you, Phantom, no, Yukihira."

"Why is that?" Soma asks.

"You're feeling desperate, right? Because your expulsion depends on the skills of that dunce."

Inui is a little terrified and says, "Did you hear that hateful way of speaking?"

Gotoda says, "That's why you don't last long with a woman, Shinomiya-san."

Mizuhara says, "Shinomiya, I think you really have a bad personality."

Shinomiya is having a tick mark on his face and says, "Silence outsiders! And Hinako! When did you get rid of the ropes?"

Inui ignores Shinomiya and yells, "Do your best, my Megumi-chan!"

But Megumi is looking at the ingredients with a panicked face, since she is battling chef Shinomiya Kojiro, the person who went to France alone after graduating, and a chef that opened a restaurant on the battleground of gourmet food, Paris.

Soma notices that Tadokoro is trembling, and he says, "Tadokoro."

But before he can say anything, Dojima Gin says, "Just for your information, you can't revise her recipe. Because you're only a Sous-chef. You thought that Tadokoro is worth surviving here, right? If you say you can't believe in her cooking skills, then step down from this challenge now."

Soma says, "There is no way I can step down, I'm a chef and it's not like I will run away from the kitchen."

He turns to Megumi and says, "Tadokoro, there is no need to worry about battling a senior of ours. I have done this a lot of times as the Phantom. The only difference is that our opponents are much senior than us."

"How is that supposed to help..." Megumi says while she is still trembling. But Soma puts her hands together, and claps on them hard, breaking Megumi out of her trembling daze. Megumi is shocked for a second, and then she cries out, "Soma-kun? That hurts!"

"It's only fault is you can't do it alone. That was a trick I once learned at home that eases the tension." Soma says.

Megumi then feels the trembling stopped, and Soma says, "Right now, calm down and then think carefully about what we're making."

"But...Chef Shinomiya is going to make a genuine French dish that was polished there, you know? If I can't make a dish that can win against that, Soma-kun will be expelled..."

"My Dad said this: Cooking is putting all you have on top of a dish. For now, just forget about things like what the opponent will make."

"But a dish made by someone like me..." Megumi says.

"The onigiris you made at the dorm were really delicious. Don't think about unnecessary things. Just make a dish that suits you." Soma says.

Shinomiya just looks at them and he taunts, "I'm surprised, you haven't even started preparing the food? It seems your chef is quite a dunce..."

"Can you leave the insults against Tadokoro for after you eat her food?" Soma asks.

Then Megumi tells Soma about the dish she wants to make, and she says, "But on this recipe, there're a lot of ingredients that take time preparing before cooking. I'm not sure I can finish it up neatly..."

"Who do you take me for? I am the Phantom and also the third-best chef at Yukihira Diner, you know?" Soma says.

Megumi smiles and then they start to work on the recipe. At the same time, Dojima Gin is looking at the scene and he smiles, "Those two...they really are like them...Tamako and Joichiro..."

"I'll first prepare the tomatoes! Soma-kun, prepare the other ingredients!" Megumi says.

"Got it!" Soma says as he is doing with Megumi's instructions.

At the same time, Inui whispers to Shinomiya and says, "Putting "Restaurant" and "Tadokoro" together, sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?"

Shinomiya is annoyed and he says, "Gotoda, tie her again and put her somewhere far away from here."

Gotoda sighs as he ties Inui into the chair once more and drags her away, and the female chef can only yell, "Why?"

Megumi is cutting the vegetables and she thinks, "Let's win against chef Shinomiya! If I get worked up like that, I'll just get more nervous. I must concentrate on my own dish."

But then she realizes that she forgot to tell Soma that if he doesn't scrap the shoulder meat first, the cooking process will...her thoughts were cut off by Soma, who takes the plate of shoulder meat to her.

"I'm done cutting the meat. I took away all of the strings too."

Megumi is surprised at the speed, and she thinks, "But come to think about it...it is like the Number 0 is being my sous chef...that is an opportunity that nobody has ever had!"

"Next, which should I do first? The chicken? liver? Or the pork back fat?" Soma asks.

"Ermm...start with the liver." Megumi says.

As the three chefs are watching, they see that both Soma and Megumi are working together very fluently, as if they are newlyweds. Soma is asking Megumi about her opinions while acting just like a sous chef in a restaurant.

"What is that..." Mizuhara is surprised to see what they are doing, and Sekimori says, "Let's see...Yukihira Soma...hmmm! That's unusual, to think he transferred in high school, but before that, he has been the Number 0 who manages to beat all the 88th to 91th generation's Elite 10 members with ease."

Gotoda thinks, "He's constantly predicting what she'll do and supporting her while not slowing down his own work."

"Moreover, he never does anything unnecessary, he's being extremely careful of not getting in the way of Tadokoro Megumi." Sekimori thinks.

"His home is a special-of-the-day shop, owned by a former second seat of the Elite 10...Yukihira Tamako. But those movements aren't that of someone that just helped with the family business. No matter how you look at him, he's already surpassed the level of a student by far..." Mizuhara thinks.

"Now! Start with the finishing touches!" Dojima yells, "The judgment will start soon!"

Soma and Megumi nod as they start to put the food into the plate, and when the judging time comes, Shinomiya presents his dish first. "Where's mine?" Inui asks the chef, who replies, "There's none for you...have Mizuhara share some with you."

Megumi looks at the dish, and she thinks, "This is Chou Farci... a dish native from the Auvergne region of France. It's a dish where you stuff cabbage leaves with minced meat or vegetables, wrap it, and then steam it. It's similar to the "Cabbage rolls" cooked on the west."

"This is somehow unexpected." Gotoda says.

"This is a standard dish cooked frequently in French families." Sekimori says.

"This was a bit of letdown, for the Shinomiya senpai who always made showy dishes to make this..." Inui says, but Shinomiya just slaps her head hard.

"Well then..." As they cut the cabbage leaves open, they smell something good and Gotoda says, "Oh? The smell of the potherbs stimulates the appetite."

Mizuhara tastes a bite and she is very satisfied. "Delicious! This stuffing it's not the roast pork and onions usually used for Chou Farci! It's native chicken beast meat farce!"

Inside the cut open breast meat, he puts morel and asparagus flagrantly fried with milk...and also Foie Gras. Furthermore, he makes a smooth mousse-like mix of the breast meat, butter, eggs, and fresh cream and steams it The mousse entwines with the tongue stickily, and in that instant, it gently melts and spreads around inside the mouth as a rich flavor.

Dojima tastes it and says, "And the most dreadful thing is the cabbage that wraps everything."

Savoy Cabbage is a cabbage breed that has a strong grassy smell and that releases fine quality sweetness when heated. "Blanchir", "Cuire La Vapeur"...the cabbage has been heated to the optimum point on both of these processes. And the delicate sweetness born from this raises the overall quality of the flavor, just as if magic was cast on it.

When Shinomiya graduated, he went to France alone. After a few years of training, he opened his own restaurant in Paris and became an owner-chef. In contrast to the French cuisine that tends to overemphasize the use of meat, Shinomiya's cuisine that brings new light to vegetables came as a shock for the gourmet's all around the country. Eventually, the inhabitants of the gourmet food city started respectfully extolling the chef that came from Japan, and he is known for the "Legumes Magician".

Inui tastes a bite and she thinks, "It's vexing, but it tastes so good."

Gotoda thinks, "He gave a new twist to a fairly standard dish with his keen sensitivity."

Sekimori thinks, "This is boosted to a level where you could serve it on a high-class restaurant."

And finally, Dojima thinks, "The breast meat mousse that gently melts and the youthful sweetness of the cabbage that wraps it...wraps up my mouth and my whole body! It's as if my tongue and body are brimming up with magic!"

Then the five judges suddenly turn into some random anime with magical girls as they called themselves magical cabbage.

"So how is the flavor, Mizuhara?" Shinomiya asks the female chef, who replies, "If it could erase my memories regarding Shinomiya, it would've been perfect."

"That's a pity." Shinomiya sighs, but Dojima says, "However, that was unexpected, Shinomiya. I was sure, that we'd get to eat one of "Shino's" Specialities."

"Haha, your jokes aren't funny, Dojima-san. My opponents are just students." Shinomiya says while rubbing his glasses and putting them back on. "Did you think I'd be so merciless?"

The two male chefs are not trusting the man, but they also know that if the man gets serious, both Soma and Megumi won't be able to cook again.

Dojima thinks, "An up-and-coming chef that is fighting on his restaurant in one of the best districts of the battlefield of gourmet food, Paris. He's thinking, "It's impossible for me to lose against a couple of students." A very honest arrogance. If there's an opening they can take advantage of, it is..."

At the same time, Megumi and Soma put their plates on the table and Megumi says, "Here, please enjoy the meal!"

And here is the first part of the Shokugeki battle. As you can see, Megumi and Soma manage to work on their food as Shinomiya offered his dish to the judges, a Chou Farci. What is Tadokoro making and will her dish win against Shinomiya senpai and lets her stay at Totsuki? I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the results.