On the fly cook-off

"I’m Codename: Laks, but you can just call me Mimi," Mimi smiled as she twirled around in her work uniform. 

Just like Rika and Masaru, she wore dark green pants and sneakers, though wore a red chef’s shirt along with an apron, instead of the white shirts Rika and Masaru wore.

"Looks like she's a big hit with the patrons," Rika grinned.

"She's messed up a few orders already," Masaru glared.

"She's not the brightest, but she's got a cute face. Besides, she'll get the hang of it. If she can master a smartphone in an hour, I'm sure she can easily get into the groove with orders."

"Very well. Is there anyone else you wish to hire?"

"Actually, I got two more in mind that could also cook but will probably be difficult to hire."

"You piqued my interest, but then deflated it all at the end," Masaru sighed.

"The good news is that I can easily solve those problems with a simple cook-off."

...

"And why would I agree to even partake in such an outrageous proposal," Makihara glared.

"Hey, I started out with the easier request," Rika smirked.

"You had another demand?"

"Well, since you're clamming up on the easy one, I'm sure demand #2 is off the table. So, I'm gonna push for demand #1. I'll put my cooking license on the line in order to get Matcha Myouchi as well as all the others that were expelled in your purge at Tabemono Gakuin the right to work in a culinary business, preferably cooking, again."

"I do not restore rights to those that have lost them. Even more so now that Takeda-kun has vanished. My personal lawyer is the best of the best, but even then, I think Takeda-kun was a step above him as both an indispensable legal consultant and chef."

"Afraid everyone that got unfairly expelled will come back with a vengeance? Well then, all the more reason to get ahead of things. Why not offer a remedial course for chefs to get their licenses back?"

"No, I will not-"

"Then we go one on one, and winner gets Itsuki."

"THAT WAS YOUR OTHER DEMAND!? You heathen, she still has not recovered from the drugs you fed her!"

"Drugs!? Wow, don't think American fair vendors are gonna like hearing that."

"And why would I care about what some greasy American slop farmer thinks!?"

"Not just them, if a good chunk of people hear you referring to a simple funnel cake like its cocaine, that's sure to get you massive flak abroad and even domestically," Rika smirked as she stopped recording on her phone.

"You were recording!?"

"Only started when you flipped out about Itsuki."

"TCH! Very well. If you can best Helga, I'll formalize a remedial course. Though if you lose, you're finished."

"And if I best you too, do I get Itsuki too?"

"Still adamant, well perhaps I should take advantage of your foolishness and ask you to ante up Masaru-kun."

"Alright, though my two conditions are this: One, for impartiality we pick five judges. Three professional judges, and two civilians from the venue. You can select one judge, while I get to pick the two civilian judges. The remaining professional judges will be called at random. Two, you don't tell Masaru a word about our bet until the results are in."

"Very well."

"Oh, and we've got 5 hours to cook a full course meal and bring it before city hall."

"You heathen! Very well, I recorded everything this time, so there's no chance in you backing out."

...

"Rika? Why are you cooking so fervently?" Masaru asked as Rika began cooking like a maniac.

"Oh, someone at town hall suddenly asked me to make a full course meal. If his judges like it over the other guy's, he promised to help us get those two people I want hired," Rika replied as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Is it only allowed to be you?"

"Sadly yes. Though feel free to give some pointers if you feel like it." 

...

At city hall, Rika sighed as she spotted the judges. While the two Rika picked were ensured to be impartial, all three of the remaining judges were of the gourmet elitist faction, even though only one had been handpicked by Makihara to judge. 

"All finished setting up? Then feel free to go first while I unload my dish," Makihara sneered as he and Helga got out of a large catering van.

"Sure, though come observe the judging," Rika sighed. 

As Makihara and Helga confidently followed Rika, another Makihara suddenly appeared without anyone noticing and went inside the catering van. 

Meanwhile, the real Makihara and Rika watched as the judges tasted Rika's meal.

"Yes, it is... edible," a snobby judge snarled.

"Tastes great!" a peppy judge smiled.

"I only ate this filth because I was mandated to," a snarky judge scoffed.

"I like it," a fair judge stated.

The final judge had apparently left to use the bathroom and had yet to return.

"Well, the final judge is the one I was allowed to handpick, so there is no cause for concern. Now I'd better save their taste buds with my meal," Makihara smirked.

"Me and Makihara-sama made the greatest full course meal, for an on-the-fly contest of course," Helga gloated.

As Makihara and Helga began heading back to the van, the final judge returned. "AH! Sorry I just had to use the john, let me taste- Oh! Well, this is...edible," the final judge scoffed as he ate Rika's meal.

A smile began to form on Rika's face. "Looks like it's all good then," she thought. 

A few minutes later, Makihara returned shortly with his meal, an extravagant turkey dinner with bread and soup, before the judges. "Fear not! I shall cleanse your taste buds of the filth you were fed," he proclaimed.

The judges eagerly dug in as Makihara began to gloat. "You were a fool heathen. I honored your request as best I could, but you should know simply by math that a majority of the professional culinary judges in this nation are under my wing. It seems you got good reception from the peons, but even they will realize that my dish is superior in every way. Perhaps you'd stand a percentage of a chance if it was one on one, but your bravado landed you in a 2v1 slaughter. Farewell heathen," he thought.

"OW! Why is the bread hard!?" the snobby judge shouted.

Makihara's eyes went wide with shock.

"The hell is this!? The turkey tastes salty. Ugh!" the peppy judge cringed.

"DELICIOUS! THE BEST THING EVER! AS EXPECTED OF MAKIHARA-SAMA!" the snarky judge laughed as he painfully ate the rock-hard bread."

"BLEH! The turkey smells weird and tastes really salty. What did you season it with!? the fair judge glared.

"Why, the soup tastes just fine. You unprofessional peons must have your tongues corrupted," the final judge snickered as he finished the soup.

"Oh, before the judges deliver their verdict, allow me to tell all gathered here what is at stake. If I lose, I'm done and Masaru will work for Makihara, but if I win, Itsuki will work for me, and anyone who was unfairly blacklisted from working in the culinary world will have a chance to reverse it in a remedial course offered at Tabemono Gakuin!" Rika shouted.

The crowd roared with excitement as Makihara scowled. Though a sinister smile quickly found its way to his face.

"Three of them work for us. Even if the rabble vote for the bitch, we win 3-2," Helga sneered.

"Indeed. I don’t know why they were cringing when they ate our fine gourmet meal, but it matters not. We win, and nab a big prize," Makihara smirked as the judges began to give their verdict.

"I believe Makihara made the superior meal," the snobby judge huffed.

"I liked Rika's best. It just tasted really good," the peppy judge stated.

"Makihara-sama cooked the best meal in ages!" the snarky judge forcefully smiled.

"Makihara's meal, was disgusting. The soup was the only thing that tasted normal. Therefore, I give my vote to Rika who made a pleasantly tasting meal," the fair judge stated.

The final judge let out a chuckle. "Makihara's meal... was amazing. Full disclaimer, I was the judge selected by Makihara-sama, while the two... guest judges were selected by the heathen. My colleagues Hariyama-san, and Shimazu-san were the two randomly chosen judges. With that out of the way, I obviously cast my vote- UGH!" 

Gasps rang out as the final judge rose from his seat, clutching his stomach in pain. 

"I- My vote- UGH! I can't hold it in! Makihara! How could you create such an atrocity! Did you think so lowly of this to just half-ass it all!? UGH! I gotta shit! I vote for Rika! She wins!" the final judge shouted as he ran away clutching his stomach.

Suddenly the other 4 judges began to feel the urge to go as well and bolted for the nearest bathroom as Makihara and Helga went pale with horror. "What did you do!?" Makihara cried as he turned to Rika.

"Nothing. I was with you the whole time. Guess you really half-assed it. Oh, and you're following through on the agreement," Rika smirked.

"SCREW YOU! I WAS SABOTAGED! MY MEALS ARE DIVINE! IT TASTED FINE WHEN I SAMPLED IT! YOUR MEAL MUST HAVE SICKENED THEM!"

"Boo! What a sore loser!" a crowd member jeered.

"Yeah! Rika won over YOUR chosen judge! She won!" another bystander shouted.

"JEER ALL YOU WANT YOU PEONS! MY DISH IS SUPERIOR TO YOUR CORRUPTED TASTE BUDS! HELGA, PROVE IT" Makihara fumed.

Helga nodded and cut a piece of turkey, confidently shoving it in her mouth before spitting it out a second later. 

"H- HELGA!?" 

"Th- This tastes like piss!" Helga cried as she began gagging. 

Makihara's heart began thumping. "CHEATER! YOU SET ME UP!" he roared at Rika. 

"What!? She never got near the van. In fact, you came back alone before fetching the white-haired girl to help you bring everything out," a bystander shouted. 

"LIAR!" 

The bystander glared and held up her phone, showing footage of Makihara entering and exiting the catering van just as she claimed. 

"N- No... IMPOSSIBLE! I was with the heathen-" 

"Were you? I was walking in front," Rika shrugged. 

"HELGA!" 

"Ngh, I had my eyes on the heathen... the whole time," Helga trembled. 

Makihara's fist began to shake as his teeth began clattering in fury. "No, I won't accept this... I REFUSE-" 

But before he could continue, Rika began playing the video of him comparing funnel cakes to drugs, causing the audience to erupt in even greater fury. 

Now, Makihara now had no choice but to follow through on his promise. “FINE! YOU CAN HAVE ITSUKI! SHE WAS TAINTED BY YOUR FRIED DRUGS ANYWAY! AS FOR- Ahem, as for the remedial course, yes, I shall approve of it." 

The crowd's anger subsided and was replaced with cheers for Rika as Makihara and Helga angrily shrieked away.

...

Back at the restaurant, Rika was greeted by a shell-shocked Masaru. 

"Yeah, sorry for not telling you about the high stakes cook-off against Makihara. I selfishly didn't want you to know about it," Rika nervously chuckled.

"I'm too shocked to think. First the bet, but more shockingly, Makihara-sama's meal. Wh- What happened!? It must have been damaged in transport. But he's the best of the best. And how could he claim that delicious funnel cake was like an illegal narcotic!? I- I don't understand!" Masaru stuttered.

"Don't worry, I'll put your mind at ease with a fresh funnel cake to celebrate my victory and our new employee, Itsuki."

"ITSUKI!? Well, she is certainly worthy. But didn't you say we need more servers?"

"Yeah, they'll be coming once they destroy the remedial course and get un-blacklisted."

As news of the cook-off began playing on the TVs, Rika began smirking. "If you're gonna play dirty and rig the judging panel in your favor, don't get upset if a master thief decides to sabotage you on a whim," she thought as she glanced over to Eluf, who was elegantly sipping a cup of tea at a table.