The remedial course

Itsuki shivered as she stood before Rika and Masaru.

"I- I look forward to working with you," she bowed.

"Perfect, now we got 3 sets of hands working. I take it you don't need to give her a crash course?" Rika smirked.

"Completely unnecessary. Itsuki is by far more than qualified to work in the kitchen," Masaru stated.

"Well, guess I'll primarily handle serving, though we'll trade off as it quiets down."

Itsuki quickly got into the groove of things in the kitchen.

"Hey, now that we got 3 chefs, one of us can take a break, so why don't you take one Masaru," Rika suggested.

"I can work just fine," Masaru replied.

"OK, then I'll just go out, and you can handle the serving."

Masaru sighed and took a break.

"Now that it's just us, why don't we have some girl talk while we work," Rika smiled.

"I haven't forgiven you. Even though you have set me free now, I had to endure hellish brainwashing for the past few years. If only you'd stepped up to lead the rebellion faction earlier, we could have united and completely quashed my father," Itsuki glared.

"But I did win."

"No, you merely beat all his elites. He refrained from the contest, but had you stepped up earlier, we could have beaten him together."

"Sorry, I just didn't have the motivation back then."

"If I didn't have a percentage of willpower left, I would have been lost regardless of what you fed me a few nights ago. Because of that, I was able to be deemed "tainted" and father loosened his control over me. Yet that man still seeks to spread his will. As for the remedial course you forced him to create, I expect none shall pass it."

"Nah, I'm sure there will be some graduates. He can't mess with the school rules we established when his faction lost the cook off royale."

"Why are you making a move now? And speaking of cook offs, I know you did something dirty to win. My father may be authoritarian, but he does not make massive blunders like that."

"I didn't do anything to his food. I even followed the rules perfectly. Heck, he was personally watching me the entire time."

"Well, I shouldn't be complaining. The stakes were high, and your victory resulted in my freedom, as well as negative press for my father. The deck was also unfairly stacked against you, so you did well to outsmart him. I still will not forgive you for the suffering I went through though."

"It's fine. Just follow the one rule not to make romantic passes at Masaru and we're good."

"I have no interest in romance."

As Masaru came back, Rika decided to give Itsuki some pointers in serving.

"I know how to wait tables in an efficient manner," Itsuki huffed as she walked away.

Rika then walked up to one of her regular customers, an elegantly dressed older gentleman and took his order.

                                                                                  ...

"So you gonna go for the remedial course?" Rika asked Matcha as she stopped by the store.

"This is your doing. Why bother? Makihara's going to make it impossible anyway," Matcha groaned.

"Nah, I'm gonna make sure a good chunk of the participants pass. Though if you know a few guys that don't want to attempt the remedial course, or two with low level skills let me know so I can contact them. Oh, and you're getting your license back."

"*Sigh* If it gets you to stop shopping here I'll do it."

                                                                              ...

Masaru groaned as he gazed at the image and message Rika sent him.

"Sprained my arm, but doc says it'll be all healed in a few weeks, but I can't cook or serve. So I'm gonna chill at my place."

"That idiot. Well at least Itsuki is here to do the serving," Masaru sighed.

                                                                           ...

At Tabemono gakuin, Matcha clenched her fists as she stood before the gates.

"Yo Match? That you? Girl! It's been eterns," a girl with spray tanned skin and bleached blonde mohawk smiled.

"And who are you?" Matcha glared.

"Girl, it's me, Waki."

"Waki? WAIT! WAKI!? B- BUT YOU WERE ALWAYS SO  CREEPY AND GLOOMY! AND YOUR HAIR WAS LONG AND BLACK AND COVERED YOUR EYES! "

"Yeah, I got a makeover after cryin my heart out. Now I'm totes back for revenge against the Mak," Waki smirked as she twirled her beanie around on her finger.

"It seems time has passed. I recognize thee not, Waki," an ordinary looking man in glasses said as he walked past them.

"Well, at least Takeshi hasn't changed," Matcha sighed.

"Hey don't diss me girl, it took a lot to go from gloom to gyaru," Waki pouted as she cutely flipped off Matcha.

"I never thought I'd miss when you were my gloomy stalker."

"I totes heard that, and totes still into you."

"UGH!"

Waki and Matcha made their way to the orientation hall. Matcha was surprised by how packed it was. Makihara and some faculty then took the stage.

"Ah yes, you unworthy scum have returned to taint these... halls. I assume you bear a grudge for your JUSTIFIED expulsion and subsequent blacklisting from the culinary world. Well, by mercy, you have a percentage of a chance to have the blacklisting revoked. You simply need to pass a simple judging. Make a majority of my 5 handpicked judges say your meal is gourmet, and you shall pass. You may even form a group of up to 5, though you can only submit one dish per group. As for the 5 judges, please introduce yourselves."

Five people took the stage. Matcha recognized them as alumni from Makihara's faction, as well as some judges that were under his wing.

"Helga Hepburn, you trash aint passin with me around," Helga sneered.

"Kanryusai Shimazu. Makihara-sama is my idol!" a middle aged man cackled.

"Etsuya Hariyama, you rabble will not pass," a snobby man with a large belly declared.

"Sundae-chan! Everyone's favorite patissier and emcee!" a young woman with a multicolored bob sneered.

"I am Kiki Ikari. You will fail," a woman with short red hair and glasses glared.

"Guess he had a falling out with his buddy Darren Sanderson," Dastard smirked as he watched, from the crowd.

"Wow, a full course Makihara stooge buffet. Well, can't wait to see that ass freak out when someone like me causes all his judges to flip out," Rika smirked.

Both Dastard and Rika had come to the venue disguised as chefs seeking to get their blacklisting revoked. They were here for separate reasons though. Dastard was here to steal, while Rika was here to both humiliate Makihara, and to recruit employees for the restaurant.

"How generous, I get 5 potential recruits. Hmm, well there's one I definitely want. Hmm I remember her. He could work, and she's good looking. Now I just gotta sway em over," Rika gleefully thought.