Breakfast for the gourmet elites

"I- Itsuki!?" Masaru trembled as he stared at Itsuki.

"So yeah, I kinda just found her in the hallway like this. Her clothes were ripped so I gave her the spare robe in the bathroom," Rika explained.

"Why is she like that!?"

"I... don't know. It's hard to understand her with all these piercings in her mouth."

"Then what do we do!?"

"Well, luckily I've got a childhood friend that happens to be a doctor on speed dial. She's more a night owl so she should be up," Rika said as she dialed Shiori.

"What?" Shiori growled.

"St- Shiori-chan."

"My name? You around normies?"

"Yeah, also one of my employees can't talk cause her mouth is full of piercings. Can you swing by the Tt- hotel and resort?"

"Tt hotel? I'm almost there now."

"Really?"

"Though your employee's gonna have to wait. Someone called ahead of you, so I'm seeing them first."

"Alright, we'll chill then."

"Well?" Masaru nervously asked.

"We're on the waiting list, but she'll be here. Guess Itsuki can just snooze on the sofa while we snooze on the bed."

"I can't sleep in these conditions."

"Guess we'll just stay up then. Not like we're the ones that gotta cook anyway."

                                                                               ...

Shiori's eyes widened as she stared down the hole on the rooftop.

"And just who is that mangled at the bottom?" Shiori growled.

"Um, someone Ri asked me to protect," Hanabi nervously chuckled.

"Well, you fucked up big time. Ri just called me and said she had a patient for me. *Tch* Two floors down. Bring a wheelchair to the floor two levels below," Shiori glared at Hanabi as she leapt down into the hole.

She landed and examined the motionless Helga.

"Not moving, but alive, multiple broken bones," Shiori grumbled as she opened her medical kit.

"Also got some immobilization serum in her!" Hanabi shouted down.

"Start with that then!" Shiori growled back.

                                                                              ...

"Mmmph ngh mmph?" Helga groaned as she was placed in a wheelchair in a full body cast.

"No, sadly you aren't dreaming. You're gonna be stuck like that for a week or two," Shiori grumbled.

"MMPH!?"

"You'll only have to spend a night in a full cast, though your left leg and right arm are completely broken while some of your right ribs are fractured. Luckily, the beds here are comfy. I'll take you by Rika's room since I don't know where your room is, and I don't feel like looking it up."

"I should have stayed in bed," Helga miserably thought.

                                                                                  ...

"St- Shiori! Um, why are you bringing a mummy here?" Rika nervously asked.

Shiori peered into the room and noticed Masaru.

"*Tch* Now I gotta do my makeup. Here, take white hair back to her room while I apply it," Shiori growled.

"White hair? HELGA!? What the hell happened!?"

"Keep it down, it's the middle of the night!"

                                                                                      ...

"Sorry about all this, Ri," Hanabi said as she met with Rika outside Helga's room.

"You're slipping girl, then again you never were really good about noticing others getting in your blast zone. So who's the girl?" Rika asked.

"Izumi," Izumi stated.

"Just found her in the slums a few hours ago. Decided to give her a hand, she followed me, and now she's happily acting as my partner."

"Guess you can go bounty hunter now," Rika smiled.

"Wait, I haven't even told her anything yet!"

"She's clearly in love with you."

"LOVE!? Wait, how would YOU even be able to tell!?"

"Cause I'm a woman in love myself. Guess just say it's instinct."

"*Sigh* Never really had a crush, boy or girl. Guess I've got a lot to talk about."

                                                                               ...

"*BLEH* *cough* *cough* Ugh, fuck that bitch for doing this to me," Itsuki moaned.

"Looks like she can talk clearly again at least," Shiori grumbled.

"Wait, you're not gonna yank out the other piercings?" Masaru asked.

"It would cause her too much pain. I'll wait until she's eased up before doing her nose and ears. Now how bout I see how your hand is doing, Rika."

                                                                            ...

Itsuki massaged her bandaged mouth as Shiori finished re-bandaging Rika's hand.

"Your hand looks to be improving, but keep it bandaged for a week and ease up on the cooking. As for your friend, have her rest and then you can remove the bandages when she wakes up. We'll continue removing her piercings when you both wake up. I'll be staying in white hair's room, so come to me there," Shiori grumbled as she left.

"Guess I'll have to wait to find out what happened to you," Rika sighed.

                                                                         ...

As the sun rose, Matcha, Mimi, Waki, Zuina, and Benihime prepared for the catering gig.

"Time to do this girls!" Waki cheered as she took a group selfie.

"I hope Rika at least had an uneventful night," Matcha sighed.

"She should be fine, she's got Masaru," Mimi smiled.

"Then it is our time to shine! Now, whomst has the most cooking skill other than myself?" Benihime asked.

"Probably Matcha," Zuina theorized.

"Then Matcha and I shall head the operation!"

"Zuina!" Matcha groaned.

"Come on, you clearly are the most talented one here. Have a bit more courage and confidence, for Hinari's sake too," Zuina said as she patted Matcha on the back.

"I'm gonna kick Rika's ass for having us do all this," Matcha grumbled.

                                                                          ...

As the 5 arrived at the kitchen, they noticed Makihara talking with some chefs.

"Ah, so rabble has come to cook. Truly, you must consider my offer. I do not mind doing ALL the cooking myself," Makihara argued.

"But, we couldn't ask an esteemed guest to do labor. We have our pride too," the head chef argued.

"They will destroy your reputation."

"How bout you like go to your table," Waki glared.

"Very well, I shall judge your breakfast, though don't think you'll have a miracle like at the remedial exam," Makihara glared as he stormed out.

"Well, let's get cookin girls!"

                                                                           ...

"Hanabi, why are you putting hair on yourself?" Izumi asked.

"It's a wig. Since we were spotted last night, a disguise might be in order. That and Ri asked me to see how her friends were doing while she sleeps in," Hanabi replied as she styled a blonde wig on herself.

"Izumi thinks you look pretty with long hair."

"Heh, maybe I'll start growin it out then. I only buzz it for practicality anyway. Oh, should probably give you a disguise too. Guess since we're short on time, just grab a wig cap and a wig."

                                                                          ...

Hanabi and Izumi entered the dining hall disguised as upper-class foreign women.

"Just leave the talking to me. I know 15 different languages," Hanabi whispered.

"Hello, I apologize, but this is a private event and only those-"

"[Wir sind von der Münchner Gourmetgesellschaft. Wir sind hier, um die Küche von Masaru Ryono zu probieren.](We are from the Munich gourmet society. We are here to sample Masaru Ryono's cooking.)"

"Uh, German?" the greeter nervously asked.

"It appears they are representatives from Munich's gourmet elite organization," Makihara stated as he arrived.

"Makihara-sama, then am I to let them in?"

"Yes, let anyone from a gourmet elite organization in. Though do inform them that due to sudden illness, Masaru Ryono is unable to cook himself, and thus forced to rely on his far less experienced staff."

"Uh, how do I say that in German?"

"Apologies, I can speak some Japanese, but not very well. I can however, understand it," Hanabi stated in a thick German accent.

                                                                               ...

Makihara took a bite of the food before him.

"Unsatisfactory. It seems this is unable to satisfy my taste pallet. A shame Masaru-kun is forced to hire such rabble due to the heathen. Though I'm disappointed more with Itsuki," Makihara glared as he pulled out his phone and gazed at all the unread messages he sent to Itsuki.

"This isn't bad, for amateurs," another guest stated.

Izumi then took a bite and began crying at how delicious it was, she had never tasted something so delicious before in her life.

"I- Izu-" Izumi cried as she shoveled everything down.

"Huh!? One of the women from Germany thinks the food is amazing!" a guest noted.

"Munich's gourmet elite society is one of the most prestigious in the world. Perhaps, we must have failed to notice something, we must clear the plates!" another shouted.

Makihara grumbled as he watched everyone suddenly clean their plates of food.

"That woman's taste palette must be off," he growled.

Once everyone had finished, the 5 chefs were called out to the room.

"You are by no means as talented as Masaru Ryono, nor Rika Komachi or Itsuki Makihara. Though, I don't see what one of the women from Germany sees in your cooking, it was satisfactory enough, that Mr. Ryono can rest easy knowing his restaurant will not go under should the cooking fall to you," the host stated.

"Regrettable, I am of the opposite opinion," Makihara stated.

Once everyone had given their verdict, it turned out that about 52% of the guests agreed with the host's opinion. Makihara shook his head and took his leave.

"I am going to see how Masaru-kun is doing. I hear he is currently staying here as well."

"Guess that means we got a W," Waki grinned.

"We didn't impress Makihara though," Matcha sighed.

"So? Who cares about him?"

"I guess you could call it anxiety, but even though Rika's been able to make food Makihara will acknowledge as good, she's never faced him in a head to head cook off."

"So? She beat his faction."

"That's it, she beat his faction, but not the man himself. I heard Rika beat him in order to get the remedial course greenlit, but I heard she only won because Makihara's transporter somehow messed up his dish. In other words, he wasn't at his best. Even though his reputation has taken a hit, it feels like he still holds that edge over Rika. He isn't the top chef in the world for nothing."

"So why're you getting so antsy now?"

"Because I worry what he'd do if he found out about Rika's family."

Waki went quiet as she struggled to come up with any words to ease Matcha's fears.

                                                                                ...

Itsuki glared as Rika finally woke up.

"Oh hey, give me 5 more minutes. I wanna cuddle with Masaru," Rika yawned.

Itsuki grunted and yanked Rika off the bed to the floor.

"You can take the bandages off," Rika grumbled as she groggily began putting on her socks and boots.

Itsuki glared and begun removing the bandages.

"Hey, your mouth really does look better," Rika cooed.

"Save the flattery, I have MUCH to discus with you," Itsuki glared.

"Then-"

"Not here, Masaru is still asleep. We shall converse while that doctor attends to me," Itsuki glared as she headed for the door.

"Wait, you really wanna go out looking like THAT!? I can smear some makeup on you to at least make ya look somewhat normal," Rika said as she followed Itsuki.

"You can't hide all these vulgar piercings with a little makeup."

"Well, at least it'll prevent others from seeing the tattoos and-"

Rika stopped and went pale as she noticed a flabbergasted Makihara in front of them.

"Why did you-"

Itsuki too stopped and went pale as she noticed her father. To make matters worse, a draft from the air vent Itsuki was standing over caused her robe to come undone, revealing her ripped clothing to Makihara.

"Well this is awkward," Rika nervously thought.