Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 25 Rise of an Empire

 (Author's note: It has absolutely nothing to do with this chapter, but while reading volume 27 I realized that Butchy is a cat, and not a bear. Oops. I definitely referred to him as a bear once or twice in my story, and will edit accordingly)

Even after staying up late chatting with Erina, Torrey managed to wake up bright and early the next morning. She was still sleeping, so he left the room quietly and made his way downstairs.

Without work or school to keep him busy, Torrey had no idea how to spend this part of the day. Lamenting the missed opportunity to sleep in, he entered the kitchen half-asleep and started cooking. The kitchen was silent; even those with school had yet to awaken.

Torrey grabbed a few items from the fridge and went to work. He put a pan on the stove and set it to medium heat, then whisked three eggs together with salt and pepper until the mix was frothy.

Next, he threw some butter into the pan and slid it around to provide a nice coating. Dashing over to the fridge, he quickly pulled out a stack of ham-steak slices and diced them up for his omelet filling. Then he poured the egg mix into the pan, and in the short time it took to solidify, he chopped chives and covered the egg mass with the ham and shredded cheese.

Snapping the pan back, he folded a third of the omelet over and slid it onto his plate, tilting the pan to complete the tri-fold. After topping it with the chives, Torrey sat down to enjoy his simple creation.

Taking the first bite of his omelet, Torrey almost jumped at the sound of Ryoko's voice.

"Morning Torrey!"

"Jesus! I mean, good morning...sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

"That's okay. Hey, that looks pretty good. You made it yourself?" she asked rhetorically, noticing the used utensils on the counter.

Torrey looked down at his plate and gasped; he'd been cooking on autopilot.

"I did! I made this!" he shouted triumphantly. Ryoko laughed at his excitement.

"Well? How is it?" she asked.

"The bottom was slightly browned, which means that I left it in the pan for too long. The ham is below room temperature and should have been heated in a separate pan first. Sautéing it with onions would have created a more appealing flavor combination. In addition, using two eggs instead of three would have...oh my god. I sound like Erina."

"Haha, I guess we've all gotten used to her critiques lately. But hey, now you have a goal for the next omelet you make!"

"You're absolutely right. Hey, are you hungry?"

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After making a much better omelet for Ryoko, Torrey continued taking orders for the rest of the Polaris residents as they gradually entered the kitchen. Each student had different preferences, allowing Torrey to experiment with many combinations.

Everyone was still tired from partying late the night before, so they were equally surprised and grateful that Torrey offered to make breakfast.

While wallowing in self-pity, Torrey had forgotten two of the most important things about cooking. One is that you need to have a concrete goal for yourself in the kitchen, and a clear vision of the dish you want to make. The second thing is that cooking for the people you care about gives meaning to the craft.