The cicadas chirped in the summer heat.
Okabe stood before the cooking station, looking at the evenly arranged ingredients before him, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What dish are you going to make, Friend-kun?"
The pink-haired girl tilted her head, watching Okabe stand blankly before the station, lost in thought.
"I'm thinking. With summer as the theme, the range of possible desserts is actually quite broad. What are you planning to make, Momo?"
Okabe wasn't too bothered by the pink-haired girl who had suddenly approached him. As he spoke, he glanced over at Momo Akanegakubo, who had already started to move.
Momo Akanegakubo didn't bother with modesty and picked up a lemon from the table, waving it gently in front of him.
"Lemon."
Noticing Okabe's gaze, Momo Akanegakubo didn't hide her intentions.
"Lemon, huh? The refreshing tartness and clean aroma of lemon are indeed perfect for summer, and they work well in desserts."
Seeing Momo Akanegakubo pick up the lemon, the image of iced lemon soda popped into Okabe's mind. Taking a sip of that on a hot summer day would be an absolutely satisfying experience! Now, Momo Akanegakubo was planning to use lemon in her dessert as a representation of the summer theme. In every aspect, this was a very orthodox approach.
"Looks like you came prepared…"
Watching Momo Akanegakubo pour fresh milk into a pot and add lemon zest, this thought crossed Okabe's mind.
She had dropped everything to find him, even waiting stubbornly at the auditorium entrance without knowing if he had even enrolled at Tōtsuki, just for a match… He respected that determination!
The corners of Okabe's mouth lifted slightly. He scanned his surroundings, and the Flavor Image Projection in his mind began to play out the process of making a dessert.
"I choose you, mango."
His fingers slid over the fruit section, finally settling on a mango, which he picked up.
He could feel a slight springiness when he pressed it, and holding it near the stem, he could smell a rich, fruity fragrance.
With the help of the Five Methods of Distinguishing Vegetables and Fruits, he could easily determine the quality of this mango; it was absolutely top-grade.
Right now, this mango was at the peak moment of its life.
"A mango? Mangoes do have a summer feel, but compared to Momo's lemon, it feels a bit weaker. After all, an ingredient like a mango seems just as suitable for autumn as it is for summer."
The tall girl had appeared at some point. Her gaze fell on the mango in Okabe's hand, and she voiced her most direct feeling while stroking her chin.
"The specificity, right? I think so too. The range of applications for mango is too broad."
The girl with medium-short hair next to her nodded in deep agreement. She stood to Okabe's right, watching him as he took his time selecting from the fruit section.
"Aoi, Koi, Saki, don't interfere with Okabe-kun. This is a very serious culinary duel. If you can, please go rest on the side."
As the three girls chattered around Okabe, Momo Akanegakubo's voice rang out. The three followed the sound and saw that Momo Akanegakubo's face was full of seriousness, her eyes showing clear displeasure as she looked at them. Clearly, if the four of them weren't good friends, she wouldn't be admonishing them but scolding them.
"Sorry, good luck, Friend-kun."
"We shouldn't have been so critical. Just do it your own way."
"Momo is so serious…"
Noticing Momo Akanegakubo's sharp gaze, the three felt a chill and understood she was being very serious. They immediately put aside their playful attitude and stood obediently to the side.
Okabe merely glanced at the situation and paid it no mind.
The three girls didn't affect him much, because he already had the answer in his mind. All that was left was to 'write' it out.
He tossed the mango into the sky. With just a flash of silver light, the skin and flesh of the once-whole mango were instantly separated.
"What happened?"
"The mango's skin and flesh separated… in an instant?!"
"That's not the main point, is it? To peel the skin without touching the flesh underneath—is that something a chef can really do?"
It all happened in a split second.
Even though they had decided not to interfere with Okabe and Momo Akanegakubo, upon seeing such a scene, Aoi, Koi, and Saki couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
And that wasn't all.
When the mango fell back onto the cutting board, Okabe made two more diagonal cuts, precisely judging the location of the pit inside and separating it without leaving a single shred of flesh behind.
Mango pulp, milk, sugar. The three were blended into a mango puree. He took four-fifths of it, added gelatin sheets, and heated it over a water bath for eight minutes until the two were completely combined.
While waiting, he took heavy cream from the refrigerator, placed a large bowl with ice and water, and then put a smaller bowl inside the large one, pouring the heavy cream into the small bowl.
"The Ice Bath Whipping Cream Method? He even knows this. Looks like Momo has met her match this time."
"President!"
"President, you're here."
"President, who do you think will win?"
A crisp voice came from afar, accompanied by the sound of footsteps on the floor.
Okabe curiously looked up and saw a tall, youthful girl with a neat ponytail and a face full of vitality.
"Of course, I hope Momo wins, but her opponent's skill is not to be underestimated. Based on the current situation, I'd say it's a fifty-fifty match."
Ao Kawasaki's voice rang out.
"President, what's the Ice Bath Whipping Cream Method?"
A curious voice came from a girl who had just joined the club. Her eyes were clear, and it was obvious this was the first time she had heard of it.
Hearing the question, Ao Kawasaki couldn't help but complain, then explained with clear logic:
"You haven't been paying attention in class, have you? This was all covered. The main component of cream is milk fat, which solidifies and hardens at low temperatures. When you whip it with a whisk, these tiny, solidified fat globules are more likely to collide and trap air, forming a stable network structure."
"Also, the whisk rotating in the cream generates heat. Putting ice underneath keeps the cream at a relatively low temperature," Aoi added, pointing.
"It's the same reason you add ice when using a bread machine. If you don't use ice, the dough's temperature gets too high, which is bad for gluten formation," Saki chimed in, linking arms with Aoi to expand on the point.
Although it was a very simple operation, the difference between doing it and not doing it was huge. The resulting dishes would taste completely different; it was an advanced technique.
"Is this kid a pastry chef specializing in desserts? If not, to have such a deep understanding of the properties of cream is a rare thing indeed," Ao Kawasaki remarked, looking at Okabe.
On her way here, she had already heard about Momo Akanegakubo's duel with him.
At first, she thought Momo was being lovesick, giving up club activities for a guy she didn't know had come to Tōtsuki and waiting alone outside the freshman auditorium. But now, seeing the skill Okabe displayed, and the serious expression on Momo Akanegakubo's face—a look she had rarely seen in the past two years—she suddenly understood. Momo hadn't sought Okabe out for romance, but to defeat him.
That also explained why Momo Akanegakubo worked so hard, often staying in the club classroom late into the night just to research a dish that would satisfy her. Over the past two years, Momo Akanegakubo's rate of improvement had shocked even her. At the very least, when she was Momo's age, her dessert-making skills were not as good.
"Go for it, Momo! Show this man all the effort you've put in these past two years! Weren't you working desperately day and night for this very moment?!"
Ao Kawasaki remained composed on the surface, but inwardly, she was cheering wildly.
Meanwhile, Momo Akanegakubo was separating egg yolks and whites. She added sugar to the separated yolks and beat them with a whisk until they were smooth. Then, she gradually added hot milk, stirring until the two were combined. After removing excess moisture, she passed the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.
"The evenly mixed milk-and-egg custard is heated in a small pot and then filtered through a fine-mesh sieve. The resulting custard liquid is silky smooth and has an excellent texture," Aoi's voice commented on the scene.
"Adding lemon juice is also a masterstroke. It removes the eggy smell while adding a touch of fresh lemon fragrance. A very clever move."
"Speaking of which, is Senior Momo about to whip cream? But why isn't she using ice water? Didn't you just say that using ice water would be more effective...?"
A student who had just joined the club asked humbly, seeing Momo manually whisking the cream with a hand whisk without using an electric mixer or ice water for cooling, taking a long time to whip it into a yogurt-like consistency.
"That's because they need different states," Ao Kawasaki glanced at her and then explained,
"Momo is whipping the cream to a medium stage, and she's doing it by hand, so the rotation speed is relatively slow. The temperature remains constant, so there's no need for an ice bath. Okabe, on the other hand, is whipping his cream to the eighth stage and using an electric mixer. The high-speed rotation causes the cream's temperature to rise sharply, so he needs the ice."
Analyzing situations differently is a chef's most basic ability.
At some point, all the club members had gathered around, silently watching this dessert duel. One was a rising star in the Sweets Club, the other a freshman who had just entered Tōtsuki. Logically, the outcome should have been obvious, yet they were evenly matched. This freshman was far more formidable than they had imagined.
Who knows where this monster came from...
"By the way, since the cooking started, they don't seem to have used any flour at all…"
"Their theme is summer, right? Summer is hot, so the theme will definitely focus on coolness. The easiest way to make a cool dessert is to put it in the refrigerator. Using flour would inevitably affect the texture; after all, it's not a cake."
Watching the movements of Okabe and Momo Akanegakubo, Ao Kawasaki's face was filled with curiosity. Was it a coincidence? Both of them were using fruit as the main ingredient, along with cream and gelatin sheets. It was almost as if they were taught by the same master.
Maybe that was really the case? Otherwise, why would Okabe be the goal Momo Akanegakubo wanted to surpass? Being surpassed by a younger junior… anyone would find that unacceptable…
"Excuse me, could I borrow the Oreos on your table?"
Looking at the neighboring cooking station, Okabe smiled at the young girl standing there and pointed to the Oreos on her table, which were meant to be used as material for a replication exercise.
One of the Sweets Research Club's activities, it seemed, was to buy desserts from outside, analyze their composition by experience, and then hold replication activities within the club.
"Here you go… but what are you going to do with them?"
"Use them in my dish, of course."
Taking the box of Oreos from the girl, Okabe quickly opened the package, scraped out the filling in the middle, leaving only the cookies on the cutting board.
Then, he picked up a rolling pin and decisively crushed them into crumbs, adding melted butter and mixing it to serve as the base for his dessert.
"I see. The cookie part of an Oreo is made from more than ten ingredients, including low-gluten flour, cocoa powder, and butter, giving it a unique flavor. Adding it to his own dessert can indeed introduce a new texture and flavor. The person next to us is doing an Oreo replication; was this also part of his plan?"
Ao Kawasaki's gaze was profound.
When creating a dessert from scratch, the most important thing is to ensure its flavors are balanced, so that no strange tastes or textures emerge during tasting. However, given the technique Okabe had just demonstrated, he was unlikely to make such a basic mistake, which meant he had considered this possibility from the very beginning.
Using the Oreo cookie part as a base, adding mango cream, and finally sealing it with a mango jelly top to create a three-layered summer dessert.
Finally, he placed it in the refrigerator to set.
On the other side.
Momo Akanegakubo's cooking steps were more or less the same.
She was now passing the prepared lemon-egg custard through a fine-mesh sieve, pouring it into a cake mold, and using a spatula to remove the surface bubbles before sending it to the refrigerator.
"Phew…"
All that was left was to wait.
Momo Akanegakubo wiped the non-existent sweat from her forehead and let out a long, turbid breath.
Then she looked over at Okabe. When she noticed he had finished his dish before her and was now watching her, a look of surprise appeared on her face.
Because she had been focused on her own dish, she hadn't paid attention to Okabe's actions. She only knew he was using mango as the main ingredient for his dessert, and the air did indeed carry the fruity aroma of mango.
It was a concentrated sweet fragrance that came after heating.
"Okabe-kun, where is your dish?"
Seeing Okabe tidying up his workstation, Momo Akanegakubo finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked in his direction.
"Same as yours, in the fridge."
Wiping the clean pot and placing it on the workstation, Okabe pointed to the built-in refrigerator below, a feature every workstation was equipped with.
It had to be said that the Sweets Research Club was well-funded. Such a fully equipped high-end workstation probably couldn't be had for less than a million yen.
"Were you two taught by the same master? Your dessert-making styles are so similar."
Ao Kawasaki's voice rang out at the right moment. Her gaze swept quickly between Okabe and Momo Akanegakubo, numerous thoughts flashing through her mind.
_____
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