Megumi has passed the second stagiaire as she is now walking to her final one, as she arrives at Sumiredōri Shopping District. She says, "According to the address, it is on the street..."

Megumi is still finding the restaurant as she finally finds the number. But as she looks up to the sign, she gasps in surprise, "EHHHHH!"

The sign is no other than Yukihira's Diner, the place where Soma worked before. "Soma-kun's...diner? That's my Stagiaire place?"

"Tadokoro!" Just then, the door opens and Soma just walks out of the diner. "I see you are my next partner of the Stagiaire."

"Soma-kun? But...what..." Megumi mutters in shock, and Soma says, "I was also shocked at first, to think my restaurant would be a part of my Stagiaire. But that's fine for me, to me, it feels like I am just back to my own business. Why don't we come in and talk?"

Megumi can only nod as they get inside the diner, seeing how normal it is, she asks, "Soma-kun...where is your father? Is he not home?"

"The truth is, my Dad is traveling around the world, as usual, you know, the wandering chef." Soma sighs. "That means there are going to be the two of us preparing the stagiaire for this one."

"The two of us? Managing a restaurant?" Megumi panics, "But...I..."

"We don't have time for small talks for now." Soma says as Megumi realizes that the crowd is already gathering outside of the restaurant. Soma greets everyone and says, "Well, the restaurant will be open for a week for now."

Megumi panics at how many people are there, and Soma says, "Tadokoro, I might need your help with this. Those people are waiting, and make sure they have everything they need set on their tables!"

Megumi takes a breath and says, "Right! I'm coming."

But before she can just take the orders, she notices that Soma is already cooking, she asks, "Soma-kun? Aren't you going to take their orders?"

"I've been serving these people since I was 3, so I know exactly what they want." Soma says as he prepares the dishes, and he also notices the surroundings and says, "If you can help me out, those people over there are new customers, and they might need to take some orders."

"Okay. I'll do it." Megumi says as she leaves.

One of the customers asks Soma, "Soma-kun, who is she? Is she your girlfriend?"

"You can say so. And she is here for the Stagiaire, somehow our restaurant has become one of the Stagiaire places for Totsuki Academy." Soma says.

"For real?" The other customers are very happy to learn the news, and Soma continues to cook for them.

After the last customers leave, Soma closes the store for a while and Megumi asks, "Are you closing already?"

"Well, we have lunchtime hours and dinner time hours, right now the lunchtime hours are done, we have some time before we get the dinner time hours." Soma says. While we are having a break, how about I show you around my room?"

"Soma-kun's room?" Megumi blushes a little as she is a little curious about the place where Soma lives for these years.

After looking into the room, Megumi notices how normal it is, and she also notices the picture of young Soma and his family. This is the first time she sees Yukihira Tamako in the picture, and she asks, "Soma-kun...I know it is not good to ask this, but can you tell me a bit more about your mother?"

Soma frowns a little and says, "Sure, she is a nice mom that you can ever have. Unlike me, both my Dad and my Mom were students of Totsuki when they are just Junior High Students, but my mom has been discriminated by a lot of students since they treat her as the "Person who came from a small diner." She might appear to be optimistic, cheerful, and sociable, but deep down inside, she is hurting. That's why she decides to become the Phantom to get her revenge on those who mocked her by using Shokugeki."

"Eh..." Megumi says.

"She never lost a duel, until in High School...she had her first loss as the Phantom, the winner was Dad." Soma says. "He doesn't treat her as a person who came from a small diner, and he also asks my mother to become one of her friends. I guess that is the reason why my Mom falls in love with him."

"That sounds nice." Megumi says. "I also heard that your mother stayed at the room I was in back in Polar Star Dorm, right?"

"That's what I have heard, but I am not really sure what happened after my Mom became the 4th seat while my Dad became the 2nd seat." Soma says. "All I know is that my Dad didn't graduate and become the Ashura, and my Mom was in depression again back at that time. But all I know is that they manage to reunite back in this place and we have been a happy family until..."

Soma drops a tear, and Megumi notices it, she hugs Soma and asks, "How did she die?"

"When she was preparing to open Restaurant Yukihira, She had a sudden fall and we found her unconscious on the kitchen's floor. Soon, while in the hospital, we had found the cause of her fall: a congenital heart valve defect and she died from complications about a month later." Soma says.

"I'm sorry to hear that...that's why you want to keep her legacy as the Phantom alive, right?" Megumi asks.

"Indeed." Soma says. "Even though it has been a while when I came back here, but it is still our Stagiaire, and we have to do something for our restaurant if we want to pass."

"Of course." Megumi says. "But what should we do? Soma-kun, do you have an idea?"

Soma thinks and says, "We have the customers who really like Yukihira diner, and making it fancier like the other restaurants is out of the question. As for adding new menus to our restaurant...My dad and I have been doing this for a while, so it is not in the option as well."

Megumi asks, "Soma-kun, I want to know, why did you want to inherit this restaurant after you graduated from school?"

Soma says, "When I was working here, I can tell everyone likes the dishes and also the interactions with us. I also like to see how the customer feels after tasting the new dishes, as you don't know what is the horizon with the cooking."

"I see." Megumi says. "I want to ask you a question, Soma-kun. Do you want everyone to know the name of Yukihira Diner?"

"I don't know. I mean, even though we are the best in this Sumiredōri Shopping District, we also gain some enemies who try to destroy our restaurant or the shopping district." Soma says. "But for saving that, we have also done it during the Summer Vacation, but I had some help from Nikumi and my childhood friends."

"Eh...then does that mean, there is nothing we can do for the Stagiaire?" Megumi starts to panic.

"I think that might be the most perfect challenge." Soma says with a sigh.

Just then, they hear a voice, "Soma-kun! Are you here?"

Soma hears the voice as he says, "Speaking of which, do you want to meet my childhood friends? It will be nice to meet them."

Megumi asks, "Your childhood friends?" She feels a little sad that they are actually females.

After walking downstairs, Soma greets the two girls and says, "Aki, Mayumi! Good to see you again."

"Soma-kun, I thought you were at school, but why were you here back to the Diner?" After greeting Soma, Mayumi asks.

"And who is the girl beside you? Is she also a student from Totsuki Academy as well?" Aki asks.

Megumi starts to panic a little at Soma's friends, and she says, "M-my name is Tadokoro Megumi...I-it's nice to meet you..."

"N-nice to meet you, Tadokoro-chan..." Mayumi stutters, and Soma notices how the two of them act similarly when they are nervous.

"By the way, what are you doing here, Mayumi? I thought you were trying to help Tomita-san with the Sumire Karage Roll?" Soma asks.

"Well, it isn't opened yet. Thanks so Soma-kun, it has been very busy there." Mayumi says.

"And we have decided to help out as well." Aki adds.

"Eh, that's very nice of you." Soma says while raising his thumbs up. Megumi asks, "What is Sumire Karage Roll?"

"Oh, it is the thing I made with Nikumi during the summer vacation." Soma says as he starts to explain everything to her. Aki whispers to Mayumi and asks, "Do you think those two are dating or something?"

"W-what? I-I don't know...they seem really close and I don't know..." Mayumi mutters.

Soma turns to the two and asks, "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, we were just wondering how did you two meet?" Aki asks.

Megumi says, "Well...I failed a lot of exams and I would be expelled from the school if I get another E grade, and Soma-kun is the one who saved me from that...there are also a lot of times when Soma-kun came to save me from being expelled."

"Indeed, Tadokoro is actually good at cooking, she only needs to overcome her nervousness. She also gets the Top 8 in the Autumn Elections." Soma says.

"Autumn Elections? What is that?" Mayumi asks.

"It is a special competition that appears only in Autumn, if we win the elections, we will be able to reach the top." Soma says.

"Then what about you, Soma-kun? How far did you get?" Aki asks.

"Well, I got the first place along with someone who is also good at cooking." Soma sighs.

"That's still amazing." Mayumi says in awe.

Megumi feels a little left out by the conversation, and Aki returns to the question, "So what are you two doing here?"

"We are here for the Stagiaire." Soma says. "It turns out that the headmaster made our diner one of the places for the Stagiaire."

"Stagiaire? What is that?" Mayumi asks.

"It is like training in other restaurants to try to make them better. The passing conditions are either saving the restaurant from negative comments, solving problems with the chefs, and so on." Megumi says.

"And right now we are just thinking what to do to improve our restaurant. I mean, my Dad and I have been adding new dishes, so it is not a problem. And we don't have any staff problems considering that my Dad and I were the only staff here in this restaurant, and the common customers didn't leave any bad reviews except for closing it for too long...but we can't just ask anybody to try learning our dishes." Soma says.

"Won't you try to ask your Dad about it?" Mayumi asks. "Yukihira-san might know what to do, right?"

Soma sighs and says, "But knowing my Dad, he won't be answering all my calls. I am not sure if he will try to do it this time."

Megumi says, "But we can still try."

Soma sighs as he takes out his phone and he tries to call his father.

I'll end this chapter here, and it is surprising to make Yukihira Diner as one of the Stagiaire places. But then again, I have some plans to do with this. I hope you like this chpater.