Makihara's punishment

"Why are you forbidden from cooking?" Masaru asked.

"Well, my doc found out about the cook-off and got mad at me since my hand still isn't fully healed yet. She ordered me not to do anymore cooking till it's better," Rika sheepishly smiled.

"Ah, I understand. In that case you may take time off until you are healed. I suppose Itsuki-"

"No, I'm fine cooking," Itsuki stated.

"People are gonna ask why your head's all bandaged up," Rika noted.

"I have no issues addressing it. In fact, I've already made an official statement on my social media and will be holding an official press conference as well."

"Oh right, a bunch of people saw you when we ran into Makihara. So, are you going to see him off? Hear he's leaving in a few hours."

"I'm unsure. That man has never cared properly for me. He only cared somewhat when he was trying to mold me into his successor, but even then, I did not sense any love from him. I should apologize to you though since I was aware that he planned to try and marry me to Masaru."

"Huh!? Marriage!?" Masaru gasped.

"Yeah, I figured. Masaru was his favorite protégé. It would make sense that he'd want him to marry his daughter and breed elite chefs with her."

"I- Itsuki, do you-"

"No. Sorry, I don't hold any romantic feelings for you, nor probably ever will. Besides, you already have a woman you love," Itsuki smiled.

"Hear that, you've got a girlfriend right here," Rika grinned as she closed her eyes and puckered up her lips.

"Rika, I'm not going to kiss you on the lips in public again," Masaru glared.

"Well in that case..."

Rika stood up and pecked a kiss on Masaru's cheek, causing him to go red in the face. "Ri- Rika! We're in public!" he stuttered.

"That's a "have a good day at work" kiss. Well, if you need another one, I'll be sitting right here," Rika smiled as she sat down on a chair in the lobby.

As soon as Masaru had left, Makihara stormed into the lobby hounded by a swarm of press as he prepared to board a shuttle to the airport.

"Well, since I'm here, I might as well see him off," Itsuki sighed as she approached Makihara.

"What do you want? You mean nothing to me. You're ruined beyond repair," Makihara glared at Itsuki.

"And I came here simply to see you off. Did you not read my messages or post regarding what happened to me?"

"It's nothing but a cover story. You allowed the heathen to sway you to degeneracy."

"A shame. I wished you would be more understanding. Farewell. I doubt you'll get your cooking license back with that attitude."

"You will eat your words. I shall return a hero!" Makihara snarled as he stormed out.

A small camera crew followed him as the remaining paparazzi swarmed around Itsuki. "Itsuki Makihara, could you tell us what happened to you?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, allow me to explain exactly why I ended up like this. I was walking by the police station when I accidentally bumped into a girl in a middle school uniform..."

...

At the police station, Makoto scowled at Yumeko as she watched the live broadcast. "Yumeko, you messed up big time," she glared.

"My apologies Makoto-chan," Yumeko bowed.

"She didn't name her. She just described her look," Inoka mused.

"True, we could just give her a new style and dump everything on Sakaguro," Purin mused.

"That's why I love you Pupu. You got a big brain," Inoka cooed.

"Don't EVER call me that again!" Purin fumed.

"I'm not sayin you’re shit, I'm callin ya Pupu cause it's a cute nickname."

"I'm changing my name then."

"I doubt it will be that easy. Yumeko's style is too iconic. While her sister, Fujiko, can easily avoid suspicion, Yumeko's too recognizable. Perhaps we'll need to fake her death," Makoto sighed as she threw out her cigarette.

Suddenly, Himawari entered the room, causing the four to salute her. "At ease. Now, care to tell me who's responsible for this new scandal?" Himawari glared at Yumeko.

"Chief Yoriko Sakaguro," Yumeko stated.

...

Reporters swarmed the police station as Himawari loaded a handcuffed Sakaguro into a transport vehicle.

"We heard she kidnapped Itsuki Makihara, is that true?" a reporter asked.

"Yes, Sakaguro is also guilty of a host of other issues which is why we're sending her to prison," Himawari stated.

"What about the other officer that Makihara alleged was there?"

"Unfortunately, she died in action on a mission. The report just came in a few minutes ago so I sadly don't have all the details. Now if you'll excuse me. I need to go."

"You nearly screwed us over when you allowed your sister to torment the girl. Had we just shaved her or left her as is, she would have been sent to the cult without a problem," Purin glared at Yumeko as they watched from a distance.

"But Yoriko was always going to be the one we dump things on. This just sped up the process," Yumeko shrugged as she ran her hand through her now short red hair.

"But now we have all that crap we bought from the cult lying around! Because you screwed up, we didn't have time to plant it!"

"Relax Pupu, our Commish is a genius. She'll come up with something," Inoka chuckled.

"Yumeko, you should lie low for a bit and keep your sister under control. I know your father's the superintendent general, but that doesn't mean she can gallivant around the station and torture prisoners on a whim. You should be lucky we were able to throw suspicion off you just by faking your death and changing your hair," Makota glared as she pulled out a cigarette.

...

In America, Makihara scowled as he walked into the airport and was surrounded by paparazzi. The large crowd that had been gathering to see him then erupted in both cheers and jeers.

"It seems there's more rabble that despises me here," Makihara thought.

...

After various interviews with the press, Makihara was escorted to the fairgrounds where he was forced to cook fair food in a food stall.

“Welcome to the county fair. Name’s Tobias “Tobby” Sanderson. I’m the head vendor here. You’ll be workin in this here stall,” a man smiled as he pointed to a compact food stall.

"RABBLE! DAMN THAT HEATHEN FOR SENDING ME TO THIS HELL!" Makihara fumed aloud.

...

Itsuki watched as Makihara fumed and ranted as he was forced to cook and serve food at a fairground. "If you didn't overreact, this wouldn't have happened," she sighed as she got up to leave.

"Feeling any regret?" Rika asked as she walked in.

"No. He had this coming. Though I do feel a little guilty that my mistake ultimately led to this whole mess," Itsuki sighed.

"But it all worked out."

"I wouldn't call THIS, things working out," Itsuki glared as she pointed to her bandages.

"Oh, right. Though Shiori said your hair follicles weren't completely destroyed so your hair will probably grow back."

"I'm more upset with myself. If I hadn't overreacted, this could have been avoided."

"It actually worked out better than you thought. Makihara might have decided to challenge me with a clear mind in the future. I only beat him because Masaru was the sole judge. Had it been a standard judging panel, I might've lost. It was only because of his enraged state that I beat him and gave him his dues. So, I know this sounds bad, but thanks for running away and getting tortured so that I could beat Makihara."

Itsuki glared for a second before sighing. "I suppose when you put things like that, things did work out for the better in the end," she sighed.

"So, you gonna get crazy now that Makihara's exiled?"

"Why would I?"

"Just a suggestion. Since Makihara's not here to criticize every little thing you do, you can afford to cut loose."

"I have no problem with my current lifestyle and routine. Besides, my mother is still here in Japan."

"Hey, you got the final say, I'm just throwing things on the table. So has your face healed up?"

"Yes, though I might still sport the bandages until my hair starts growing back."

"How long will that be?"

"The doctor said a week or two. Though said it's likely I might never have hair where that tattoo was lasered off."

"Then I guess you'll either have to keep it shaved or get a crazy hairstyle that compliments it," Rika chuckled.

"Seems I'll be opting for the latter."

"Hey, you'll look good. And if you ever need a crazy hairdo, Matcha's mom will give one to you."

...

One week later, some happy children gleefully ran around a fair in America, but stopped in terror when they made eye contact with a food vendor. His eyes were bulging and bloodshot, he hadn't shaved in a week, his face had aged, and his hair was disheveled. It was Makihara.

"OH! You're not going to get any closer to cooking again if you scare everyone away looking like that," Tobby snickered as he walked by.

"I am struggling to maintain my sanity in this shithole. Damn that heathen, this is a hellish prison sentence!" Makihara snarled as he gritted his teeth.

"You had it coming the moment you insulted funnel cakes," Tobby replied as he got into the food stall adjacent to Makihara's.

"Only one more day here, but then it's off to some other lousy fair in another part of the country!" Makihara fumed.

"Doubt you'll be much better working elsewhere. Besides, you still haven't revolutionized fair food yet," Tobby sighed.

"And how can I do that!? All I have to work with is all this slop! If I had high quality-"

"But you don't. And that's the reality. You gotta make do with what you have. Though aren't you a chef? Doesn't cooking bring you joy?"

Makihara shook his head and stared at the funnel cake cooker. "I will never find happiness making things I find revolting. I come from an elite cooking family and have been striving to create a world filled with nothing but gourmet cuisine since I was but a boy. I was talented. I quickly rose to fame and became head of Japan's gourmet elite society, then headmaster of Tabemono Gakuin. I was even crowned the top ranked chef in the world! But then, that heathen came. DAMN THAT HEATHEN!"

Before Makihara could go on a rant about Rika, a customer appeared. "OH! Nasty! You look like a wreck mate!" the customer cringed.

"Well, come on over to my stall. I make the most delicious funnel cakes in Southern California. No way ole bluebeard will ever beat me at my craft, let alone get more sales than me," Tobby snickered.

Makihara gritted his teeth in fury and began madly scrambling around in the stall. "YOU RABBLE THINK I CAN'T MASTER YOUR SLOP!? WELL, I'LL PROVE YOU WRONG! I'LL PROVE YOU ALL WRONG! I'LL COME HOME A CHAMPION!" Makihara ranted as he began bordering on insanity to revolutionize the fairground funnel cake.

...

Itsuki watched the broadcast of the Makihara vs Tobby funnel cake cook-off at Ryokoma. She no longer had bandages covering her head and face, and her hair had begun to grow back giving her head some blue peach fuzz; though she had a bald streak running where the tattoo had been lasered off.

"Looking good girl," Rika cooed as she walked by and rubbed Itsuki's fuzzy head with her now fully healed hand.

"I'm looking better than my father at least," Itsuki sighed.

"WHOA! He's not looking so great. Though at least he seems to be cooking like crazy to try and beat that vendor."

"I know, he looks terrible. I doubt he'll change much, but perhaps he can at least learn to get along with people that have a less sophisticated taste pallet than him."

"That would be nice."

Suddenly, Azuki barged into the restaurant along with Mahi. Azuki was now clad in more casual attire consisting of a blue bra top, black leather capri jeans, and purple slip-on athletic sneakers. She had also let her long black hair down and was not wearing any makeup. Mahi by contrast wore a similar kimono to the one she had worn at the hotel a week ago, though like Azuki, had opted to let her hair down.

"Why hello, Mother. What brings you here?" Itsuki asked.

"I wanted to sample your cooking," Mahi glared.

"We're only here because we were asked to check your place to see if it was in compliance with gourmet regulations," Azuki sneered.

"Looks like some troublesome customers arrived," Rika thought.