"These ingredients are for tonight's dorm dinner. We've already prepped everything, so you can use the unprocessed ones over there.
Oh, and this batch—don't touch it. I mean it. Absolutely, definitely don't touch it!"
Yuki Yoshino spoke sternly, emphasizing her warning three times as she pointed to a sealed container in the corner of the kitchen. Those were Kael's ingredients—and without his handling, they were dangerous enough to poison someone on the spot.
Soma blinked, curiosity instantly piqued. "What's with those ingredients? Why're you so freaked out? Are they super rare or something?"
Yuki sighed. "Rare? Maybe. Dangerous? Definitely. Kael brought them in yesterday—he passed his dorm entry test, by the way—and according to him, he's really skilled at making something called Poison Cuisine. Most of those ingredients are toxic, so seriously, don't touch them."
"Poison Cuisine?" Soma repeated, stunned. "I've heard of chefs who specialize in Medicinal Cuisine, but poison? That's new."
"Yeah, it's real," Yuki said, shaking her head. "From what Kael told us, the idea isn't to remove the toxins—it's to use other toxins to transform them. Like, he neutralizes poison with more poison or something.
You might get a few side effects, but apparently, the end result's actually good for your body. Don't ask me how that works, though. I still don't get it."
She threw up her hands helplessly. It made no logical sense. If a dish still contained poison, it should harm the eater—yet Kael somehow managed to manipulate the balance so the toxins canceled out or even turned beneficial.
The poison stayed poison… but the effects mimicked Medicinal Cuisine. It defied common sense.
Soma's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. "That's insane. I've gotta see what that tastes like! I mean—Poison Cuisine? Come on, how cool is that?"
"Uh-huh, I figured you'd say that," Yuki said flatly. "If you really wanna try it, you'll have to ask Kael himself. Just be ready for whatever he asks in return. We already made a deal—he's not cooking any Poison Cuisine for us in the dorm. No exceptions."
She eyed him suspiciously. Soma's expression screamed "reckless curiosity," and she knew he'd get himself killed if left unsupervised. Yuki, on the other hand, valued her life too much to risk it. She wasn't about to try a dish that could send her straight to the afterlife.
Once she finished explaining, Yuki left Soma alone in the kitchen. He still found the idea fascinating, but he wasn't stupid—he didn't touch Kael's ingredients.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Polar Star Dormitory crew gathered in the common room.
"Kael-kun, you and Soma-kun are both transfer students, right?" Zenji Marui asked. "Do you know him well?"
Kael shook his head. "Not really. My position as transfer student representative came directly from the Elite Ten, so I haven't had much contact with him. Megumi probably knows a bit more since they're in the same class."
Megumi nodded. "A little. He's really good at cooking, that's all I know..."
She didn't have much to add. They hadn't partnered for the class assessment this time, but she had seen his skills firsthand—and even Roland Chapelle had praised Soma's dish without reservation.
Hearing that, everyone in the dorm nodded in understanding. It seemed both transfer students were monsters in their own right.
If anything, the two of them were setting the bar for what it meant to be a transfer student at Totsuki. Anyone who came after them was going to have a hard time living up to that.
Before long, Soma's dish was ready.
It wasn't the same recipe he'd used in the original story; the kitchen here had a much wider selection of ingredients. Instead, he whipped up one of his family diner's signature dishes—a simple, hearty meal bursting with flavor.
The aroma filled the room, drawing everyone's attention.
Fumio Daimido took a single bite, her eyes widening slightly before she broke into a satisfied grin. "Not bad, kid. You pass. Welcome to Polar Star."
And just like that, Soma Yukihira officially joined the dorm.
Two powerhouse chefs joining in such a short time—Kael and Soma—the mood in Polar Star soared. Everyone headed back to the kitchen, excited to start cooking together for the evening feast.
Meanwhile, over at the Chinese Cuisine Research Society, the atmosphere was anything but cheerful.
A group of members had gathered around their leader—Terunori Kuga, one of the Elite Ten. They were discussing the chaos unfolding on the school's online forum.
When Kuga had first heard about it, he hadn't cared much. Sure, the idea of another student being called "Totsuki's top Chinese cuisine chef" had caught his attention, but he wasn't the type to get worked up over gossip.
Kuga's greatest passion, besides perfecting his own cooking, was spreading his version of "Chinese cuisine" across Totsuki—a flashy, high-heat, crowd-pleasing style that emphasized spectacle over soul.
He'd even tried multiple times to recruit Miyoko Hojo into the Chinese Cuisine Research Society, though she'd always refused. She saw through his approach for what it was: misguided.
Her own cooking might not have reached Kuga's level, but she understood her craft well enough to recognize that he'd strayed off the right path.
And deep down, Kuga knew it too.
But his talent had blinded him. Even walking the wrong road, he still improved. His skills grew sharper, his flavors bolder—and that progress convinced him that maybe his path wasn't wrong after all, just different.
It was arrogance born from genius.
He'd convinced himself that results justified the method. That as long as his cooking got better, the philosophy behind it didn't matter.
But what he didn't realize was that the further he went, the harder it would be to turn back.
Now, the forum war had gotten out of hand. Supporters and critics were tearing each other apart online, and Kuga couldn't ignore it anymore.
All because of one sentence—from one Six-Star Chef instructor—saying Kael's Chinese cuisine was unrivaled at Totsuki.
That single comment had set the entire academy on fire.
"Captain," one of Kuga's subordinates said nervously, "things are getting bad. More and more people are siding with that transfer student. Our supporters can't keep up!"
It was true. A teacher's word carried weight—especially a Six-Star Chef's.
Kuga might've been an Elite Ten member, but in terms of official WGO certification, he was only a Four-Star Chef. Against an endorsement like that... even his reputation was starting to waver.