Waifu Wars: A Food Wars Fanfic

Ch. 85 Regiment de Cuisine: 5th Bout (Wrap-Up)

With her appetizer now complete, Rindo confidently places a plate in front of each judge. She flashes her signature, playful grin.

"I call it, mushroom mille-feuille with duxelles filling," she says. "Eat up!"

After staring at the gourmet dish for a moment of admiration, Anne, Decora, and Azami dig in. Their reactions are immediate. With reddened faces, the judges break out in cold sweats, their taste buds overwhelmed.

Torrey listens as they describe the intricate details of the dish. Azami is stumped once again, as he fails to identify the ingredient that adds a perfectly balanced tart flavor.

"Ants," explains Rindo, proudly. "I extracted formic acid from ants and mixed it into my duxelles. Extracting it from older ants would give you so much formic acid that it would wreck the flavor. Using young ones gave me just enough for a nice, refreshing sweetness."

"Woah, Senpai...you're amazing! I know you're an exotic ingredients master, but how do you even come up with this stuff?" says Torrey, in awe.

"Hngh! Kohai..." says Rindo, clutching at her heart. "If that's what you think, you should really say so more often! Compliment me more!"

"Hmm, what else...oh! Your hair looks really nice in that ponytail, too."

Torrey feels a sharp pinch on his elbow.

"Yow! What the..." he says, turning to his right. Momo stands beside him, clutching Butchy. Due to her height, or lack thereof, Torrey's elbows are in a prime pinching zone. "Did you just..." he starts.

"Did I just...what?" says Momo, pretending to look confused. "Any idea what he's talking about, Butchy? Me neither."

"Nevermind," says Torrey, gently massaging the new bruise. When he finally looks back at the stage, Eishi Tsukasa is already presenting his main course.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, did you hear that?! It appears Eishi Tsukasa, the first seat himself, has made his specialty!" says Urara, and the crowd roars in approval.

Tsukasa takes a tray out of the oven and carries it to the judges table. He sets it down, before taking a small wooden mallet from his pocket and giving the dish a solid whack. The salt crust shatters, releasing a powerful aroma into the room. Underneath the crust, sits an immaculate venison roast.

To plate his dish, the Council 1st seat arranges a beautiful set of garnishes around the meat and serves it to the judges. Azami and Decora begin to eat right away, but Anne hesitates for a moment.

"I-I can't...it's too beautiful to touch. I could never dream of marring this work of art by cutting into it!" she protests.

"Ugh. Anne, dear, you have no spine at all. Here, give me that. This is how you do it," says Courage, cutting a bite for herself (even though she's not an official judge). She takes the bite, which hits her with a wave of ecstasy. Anne follows suit, and now all three judges writhe in pleasure.

"Rindo's dish pointed the way...but not to a mere final dish in a banquet," says Azami. "It was a signpost to a gourmet Eden! A paradise where all chefs are freed from their Earthly troubles...a beautiful land of peace and tranquility that we all desire!" proclaims Azami.

"Feh! The man's acting like it's already been decided. Well, he's got another thing coming! Yukihira and Miss Erina will see to that!" says Ikumi. Yuki and Ryoko are staring at her, appalled. Torrey turns to see that she is wearing only her camo bikini bra and a pair of sparkling white panties. He stares too, naturally.