Food Wars: Taste Reversal

Looking at the path where only two people remained and the car that departed, Shiraki stood stunned for a moment.

Nene Kinokuni, like a statue, maintained the same posture as before.

"Um... Senior Sister, are you sitting in the back?" Shiraki asked tentatively.

Nene Kinokuni nodded immediately. "Okay."

So, the two of them headed toward the workshop by bicycle.

Shiraki pedaled in front, while Nene Kinokuni sat in the back.

No matter how one looked at it, this pairing was undeniably strange.

The wind carried the fresh scent of grass from both sides of the road. Nene Kinokuni, sitting on the back seat, found herself staring at the young man in front of her, lost in thought.

Suddenly, the bicycle wobbled over a small pebble on the road, and Nene Kinokuni instinctively grabbed onto Shiraki in front of her.

For a moment, Shiraki felt a distinct sensation from his back.

...It's so flat.

Compared to Alice Nakiri, a certain part of Nene Kinokuni could only be described as "peaceful."

But the situation was undeniably odd. In Shiraki's impression, Nene Kinokuni wasn't someone who would readily agree to a request from a stranger. Could this situation be the result of the "Charm Boost" effect that he hadn't noticed?

Shiraki had assumed the buff would enhance his temperament or physical appeal. But now, with no visible change, he was inexplicably attracting a girl, which made him feel slightly uneasy.

Still, maybe it wasn't as he thought. Nene Kinokuni's actions might have nothing to do with the system's special dish—it could be for some other reason.

As he pondered this, time passed, and they eventually arrived at their destination: the Bending River Cuisine Restaurant of the Chinese Cuisine Research Association (formerly the Rural Stew Research Association). That's when Shiraki noticed Nene Kinokuni leaning against him.

"Senior Sister, you can get off the bike."

"Huh? Oh... okay."

Hearing Shiraki's words, Nene Kinokuni seemed to snap out of her daze. She lifted her head from his back, her face still faintly red, and quickly jumped off the bike.

After she dismounted, Shiraki parked the bicycle and took a good look at the building in front of him.

Several renovation trucks were parked outside. The three-story building, which used to house the Rural Stew Research Association, looked decent enough.

However, there was no sound of construction inside. If he remembered correctly, the plan was to fully renovate the building from the inside out. Confused, Shiraki walked in. Just as he opened the first-floor door, he spotted a group of workers standing outside, looking frustrated.

"What's the problem?" Shiraki asked a middle-aged man at the head of the group.

Noticing the employer's arrival, the worker immediately stepped forward. "Well, we were supposed to begin renovating the building yesterday. The plan was to move all the contents out, but some students are still staying inside, making it impossible to start the work. We're trying to negotiate with them, but it's holding everything up."

"Students?" Shiraki quickly guessed who it was. Other than the original members of the Rural Stew Research Association, no one else would have any reason to be here. It seemed they knew he and Kuga Terunori weren't available to oversee the construction and decided to delay it out of spite.

For a defunct research association clinging to meaningless resistance, Shiraki had no intention of being lenient. He immediately headed upstairs.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he saw a makeshift barrier and a group of second-year students engaged in cooking.

"Shiraki!"

The moment they noticed him, the second-year students stopped what they were doing. Everyone knew he was the mastermind behind Kuga's takeover of their research association. The atmosphere on the floor instantly grew tense.

"Shiraki! Isn't this now the Bending River Cuisine Restaurant of the Chinese Cuisine Research Association? The 'Rural Stew Research Association' was abolished long ago. What are you doing here?"

Shiraki glanced at a small, flat-headed man in the crowd. If he remembered correctly, this was the head of the Rural Stew Research Association. He had lost to Kuga with a score of 0:3 in their Shokugeki, leaving a minor impression on Shiraki.

"You bastard! This is still the activity room of our 'Rural Stew Research Association'! We haven't disbanded yet!"

The flat-headed man held up a plaque—one Shiraki had sent over after the Shokugeki officially ended, designating the room as part of the Bending River Cuisine Restaurant.

Meeting Shiraki's gaze, the man threw the plaque to the floor and stomped on it, breaking it in half. "You only took this room because of your connection with the Elite Ten! Isn't that right?"

Shiraki stared at the man in silence, unimpressed. For some reason, there were always a few second-year students who looked down on juniors. This seemed to be a tradition at Totsuki, where older students, having survived more grueling assessments, developed a natural sense of superiority over younger ones.

Add to that the Japanese cultural emphasis on seniority, and it was clear why upperclassmen often discriminated against their juniors at Totsuki.

Shiraki saw through the man's provocation. The goal was to get him to agree to another Shokugeki, giving them a chance to reclaim their association. But entertaining such an unrealistic dream seemed laughable.

If the challenge had come from an Elite Ten member or someone he knew, Shiraki might have considered it. But agreeing to a defunct association head's demand would only signal to other students that anyone could challenge him.

"Troublesome," Shiraki muttered, glancing at Nene Kinokuni, who had silently followed him upstairs.

(Ps 16 more Powerstone for another bonus chapter)