Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 14 Halloween Hoopla (Finale)

            The first round of the tournament was a battle royale. It took every bit of Torrey's concentration to stay within himself and produce a decent dish, cooking in a crowded hall with 29 other chefs. Playing it safe with one of his "perfected" practice recipes was an option, but he chose to save those for a later round in case the themes worked to his advantage.

Instead, he freestyled a Halloween Candy Brownie Trifle that earned him a spot in the quarterfinals.

"What an exciting opener! We've already narrowed it down to eight contestants!" Urara Kawashima addressed the crowd in the ballroom once more. "Losers are more than welcome to stay and watch the rest of the competition, of course! If you'll all direct your attention to the big screen again, the themes and individual matchups for the quarterfinals are about to be announced. Finalists, once the matchups have been announced, you only have ten minutes before the next round starts! Best of luck!" She flashed her signature idol pose.

Torrey stood next to Alice, the other finalist from his group, as they watched the screen together.

"I knew your family was wealthy...but four massive cooking halls in one house? I still can't believe it." Alice laughed.

"It definitely pays to be wealthy. Or at least, married to someone wealthy." Uhh... He didn't know how to respond, and the matchups were now being shown on the board.

"No way! I'm facing Erina already? I was just gonna take it easy until I met her in the finals!"

"So 'taking it easy' earned you a top-two finish in a group of thirty? That's scary." She smiled, flashing her fangs.

"Please, enough of the flattery," she said, though she was blushing. "And you lucked out with an easy matchup against Sakaki."

"I wouldn't call it easy. She's a good chef, and she's been working hard on her recipe's these past few weeks."

"Why thank you, Torrey. You could definitely teach Alice a thing or two about respect," Ryoko Sakaki said as she joined them. "I could hear her loud mouth all the way across the room. Let's go, our Shokugeki awaits." She grabbed Torrey's arm and led him out of the room. Alice's jaw dropped.

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The quarterfinal matchups took place simultaneously, since the Nakiri's had so many kitchens. None of the contestants would know the results until their own match was over...

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Erina stood over her cousin, wearing a triumphant smile. Alice was on the ground convulsing in tears. Erina's Gingersnap Bonbons won an easy 4-1 victory over Alice's Candy Corn Ice Cream.

"Did you honestly think you stood a chance against me?"

"You don't have to be so mean about it...I worked so hard on that recipe, and this was just the theme I wanted...sniffle...I thought for sure I'd win."

"You have much to learn, Cuz. And stop the weeping already, you're dishonoring the family name." In spite of the apparent ill-will towards her cousin, Erina offered her a hand getting up. No one doubted that Erina deserved the victory, but it was possible that the judges simply weren't partial to candy corn. It's not for everyone, after all.

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Takumi Aldini sank to his knees, devastated by defeat at the hands of his arch-rival Soma Yukihira. Soma's creative use of Snickers in his cupcakes earned him an edge over Aldini's Kit-Kat stuffed brownies in a Halloween candy themed match.