A taste of Tartarus

Rika moaned in discomfort and fear as she was forced to watch the event. The participants, meanwhile were quickly absorbed in the task at hand.

"Don't cook even 1 second over. The hell is this!? Some spartan class!?" Helga thought.

Rize, meanwhile began playing with some of the ingredients.

"The hell are you doing!?" Azuki glared.

"Hmm, I'm just jugglin' the eggs," Rize sneered.

"Why are you so agitated, Azuki? She will clearly be disqualified," Mahi snarled.

"Nuh-uh, see I'm followin' the recipe to a tee. Nothin' says I can't mess around with the excess food."

Masaru briefly looked over at Rize, before continuing.

...

Rika's eyes widened as she watched Masaru place his meal in the oven. "MMPH! NGH [NO! NO]!" Rika cried out as tears poured out of her eyes.

Rize gazed up at Rika and grinned before turning to Masaru. "So that your new crush or somethin?" she asked.

"Yes, Rika is my g- girlfriend," Masaru stated.

"Girlfriend, huh? Heard she's some kinda "heathen"."

"That's just how Makihara-san and his supporters refer to her. Now Rize, why did you refuse to compete against me all those years ago?"

"Cuz it was pointless. Makihara wanted YOU to win. Sure I could have won or even thrown, but what then? Besides, what did I lose?"

"You were expelled though."

"So? I cooked despite my blacklisting."

"Then how are you even here?"

"Cuz you're not the only one that wants me to show off my cookin' to the world. Pops was resistant to blacklist me. Guess despite my eccentricities, he knows I'm good at cookin. Bet that's why you fell in love with Rika. She reminds ya of me, the big sis ya always looked up to. Wonder if she'll cringe when I tell her you're a siscon."

"S- SISCON!?"

"Yeah, and speakin' of which, time's up," Rize grinned as she pulled her meal out of the oven. "Still got a minute and 15 on yours, well it'll be a minute when I'm done talkin."

Masaru shook his head before turning his attention back towards the oven.

...

"All 10 of you managed to fulfill the requirements. Seeing no visual discrepancies, the two that shall be eliminated will be determined by taste," Asahi stated.

"Make sure ya do Masaru's last," Rize snickered.

"Rize, you don't-"

"I agree. Let's eat the ladies' dishes first, then we digest the slop made by the men," Ookuma sneered.

"HUH!? The hell's your problem, lady!?" Subaru fumed.

"My, showing rudeness towards me? Well, what did I expect of a man."

Helga's dish ended up being the first one tried. "Shit, now if anything's better, I'll be first on the chopping bloc," Helga nervously thought.

"Rest assured, we shall refrain from voicing our opinions until AFTER we have tried everything," Yamada stated as he shot a glare at Ookuma.

"Why the side-eye? Did we not both come here as a sign of unity?" Ookuma sneered.

"I was invited. YOU were the one that made a fuss."

"Because I am to be this country's next Prime minister."

"Like hell you will."

"I only need 2 more seats, then my party will have a majority."

...

Rika began to cry and moan harder as the judges tried Masaru's meal. "That bitch! That evil piece of shit bitch!" Rika thought.

Once the judges were finished, they huddled together for a minute before delivering their verdict.

"Miss Kassandra Riker, unfortunately you have failed. Though I did think you cooked far better than the three men, I am regrettably outvoted. However, much to the minister's angst, I thought Helga Hepburn's meal was disgusting, thus she finishes dead last," Ookuma sneered.

"LAST!? You are clearly biased! Hers was at worst the 9th best tasting dish! The American girl's dish was by far the worst one!" Yamada shouted.

"For placement purposes, I will agree with Ashisaki-san. Kassandra Riker finishes last in 10th place, while Helga Hepburn finishes 9th. Both are eliminated," Asahi declared.

"Damn that bitch! I might have snuck in if she wasn't a judge," Helga angrily thought.

"This means that the ones advancing to the next round are- ACK!"

Ookuma suddenly began coughing as she slumped into the table. Asahi and Yamada then began coughing too and collapsed into the table. One of Ookuma's aids immediately ran up to her and injected her with something, however, that did not seem to help as now Ookuma began to cough up blood. Asahi and Yamada meanwhile began to go pale as blood oozed out of their mouths and their eyes began to roll back.

"Wh- WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Masaru cried.

Everyone else began to go pale with horror, with the exception of two people present. The first was Laqutte who showed no emotion whatsoever. The second was Rize who simply began grinning as she stared in amusement at the spectacle before her.

...

Himawari glared at Asahi as he was loaded into a body bag. "He looked like he was poisoned, same with the Minister of Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries," she stated.

"P- POISON!? M- Madam Ookuma, is she-"

"She was whisked away to a hospital. Seems she takes precautions and always has her aides carry a variety of antidotes on them. It didn't seem to fully cure her though, but likely prolonged her life at the very least."

"M- May I leave to be by her side?" Rebelle trembled.

"No, none may leave until we complete our investigation."

"Boo, Come on Hima-nee, I gotta ball game to catch," Rize groaned.

"Rize... So you are here."

"Yeah, and how bout I scratch your back so we can all go home. I bet the poison's in one of the dishes, so just have forensics stick a detector in em or somethin."

"Tch. Well, that is solid reasoning. Though how are we to know who made which one?"

"I remember em all. Now hurry up and test."

The forensics team quickly checked all 10 dishes for poison. "Only one had traces of poison in it; this one on the table," an officer stated as he pointed to Masaru's meal.

"So whomever made this meal is guilty. Who's is it?" Himawari glared.

"Masaru's, duh," Rize snickered.

"MMPH NGH MMPH!" Rika tearfully fumed from atop the bleachers.

"Subject's muffled cries will not reach the ears of the subjects below," Laqutte coldly stated.

Himawari then approached Masaru. "Masaru Ryono, you're under arrest for the suspected murder of Minister Yamada Ashisaki as well as the murder of Asahi Ryono."

"I did no such thing!" Masaru protested.

"The poison was found in YOUR dish. Therefore, you're the one that poisoned them. Hands behind your back."

As Himawari cuffed Masaru, Masaru gazed up at Rika. "She's crying, yet why hasn't she- ...! Has she been immobilized?" he thought.

"HOW COULD YOU!? THAT WAS YOUR OWN FATHER!" Azuki cried.

"I'm disgusted, to think you'd drag even your own flesh and blood into your plot to try and assassinate Madam Ookuma," Mahi glared.

"I did not-"

"He has a motive. While we were in the middle of the judging, a good friend of mine and Madam Ookuma's, Counciler Sachi Segawa, sent me an image she had secretly taken back when she dined at Ryokoma. In it, Ryono was clearly trying to assault her. He then threatened her not to tell anyone about it. However, when she found out one of her aides secretly took a picture of the altercation, she immediately sent it to me and Madam Ookuma to consult us for guidance before forwarding it to the authorities. I guess since you're here I'll forward the image to you," Rebelle stated as she flashed the image Ookuma had staged on her phone.

"That image was faked! Ookuma kidnapped me and made it appear as though I was assaulting-"

Slap!

"Despicable, you try to hide behind excuses, and clean up your messes through death. I remember the last time Segawa-san was at the restaurant, you intentionally sent me home early. Did you send everyone home so that you could have your way?" Benihime glared.

"NO! She tried to kill me and-"

"Lies, Madam Ookuma is a woman of peace and principle. The same goes for Segawa-san. I am disgusted you would also dare to commit such a vile atrocity when my female knight loves you so."

"No, Rika does not-"

"Gaze up to the top of the bleachers. My female knight has but an expression of pure anger and scorn."

Masaru gazed up at Rika. Rika indeed had a tearful, but furious expression, however, he knew well why she was truly like that.

"Rika, I'm sorry I made you suffer," Masaru sighed before he was kneed in the gut by Himawari and violently dragged away.

"MMPH! NGH!" Rika cried.

"Subject will be released as soon as the objective is completed," Laqutte coldly stated.

Rika had no choice but to watch from the sidelines.

...

As the squad car drove away, Helga turned to face Benihime. "You know, I heard that incident happened months ago in August of last year. Ookuma was also there, meaning she likely sat on that photo until she could use it."

"Are you implying Madam Ookuma is the one at fault? Perhaps you don't know this, but crime investigations take time. You also heard Adler-san mention that no one was aware a photo had been taken. In fact, in Madam Ookuma's recent speech, she made reference to the incident, yet before she could elaborate, she was called to judge for this, and was poisoned. I wonder if that scum that hired me might in fact have a connection to Hitokiri cutlet," Benihime glared.

"I would also refrain from badmouthing Madam Ookuma," Mahi glared as she approached the two.

"Why? That bitch is evil," Helga glared.

"She is not. She is the woman that will save this country and planet."

"When did you become her sycophant?"

"I supported her from day 1. Ah, it seems Madam Ookuma has pulled through and will be making a speech. If you'll excuse me, I would like to witness it in person."

"You should come too, Helga. Seeing her courageousness up close will eliminate the bias you've built up towards her," Benihime glared as she grabbed Helga's arm.

"Hard pass! Besides, I wanna try and catch Rika so I can talk with her," Helga glared.

"Ah, if you wish to comfort her, I will allow you to stay. Though don't you dare hurt her anymore," Benihime glared as she walked away with Mahi.

...

As soon as Rika was released, she immoderately swung her knife only to find Laqutte was gone. "That piece of shit! She orchestrated this all!" Rika thought as she frantically made her way outside. There, she found Helga waiting for her. "And what do you want!?" she snarled.

"I wanted to know what was going on with you. Why were you just sitting there while everything was going on?" Helga asked.

"I was trapped. Didn't you see the guy behind me?"

"Guy? You were the only one up there."

"Bastard must've used a cloaking device. Where's Masaru!?"

"He was taken away about 15 minutes ago by the police."

Rika immediately vanished without saying a word.