Thanks to Kael and Soma Yukihira agreeing to schedule their bath times, the infamous "bathroom misunderstanding" from the original story never happened this time.
That night, Soma still ended up having a friendly cook-off with Satoshi Isshiki, just like in the original timeline.
Only this time, Isshiki deliberately held back—letting Soma believe he'd fought him to a draw. It was a harmless little lie meant to boost the new transfer student's confidence.
Except, in Soma's case, it backfired.
Isshiki assumed sparing Soma from defeat would keep his spirits high. But Soma was the kind of person who thrived on losing. After hundreds of cooking duels against his father, he'd learned to treat every loss as a lesson.
So instead of motivating him, Isshiki's "draw" only gave Soma a false sense of equality—that he was already at the level of an Elite Ten member.
It wasn't Isshiki's fault, really. He just underestimated how differently Soma's mind worked.
Meanwhile, Kael had wisely stayed out of their match. Isshiki hadn't invited him anyway; after tasting Kael's cooking before, he knew full well that Kael didn't need a "confidence boost."
The next morning at the Polar Star Dormitory, Zenji Marui yawned and stretched. "Man, I stayed up so late last night, but I don't even feel tired. And my dark circles are gone! Kael's Medicinal Cuisine really works!"
"Yeah, seriously," someone else chimed in. "That soup was magic!"
They'd all eaten plenty of Medicinal Cuisine before, but Kael's results were on another level entirely.
Kael chuckled quietly from the side. Of course it worked—he had inherited Kaiyu's template, after all. Poison Cuisine was his true specialty, but his Medicinal Cuisine was nothing to scoff at either.
Later that day, in class, Kael ran into Alice Nakiri. She seemed intent on befriending him, going out of her way to strike up conversation and eventually sitting beside him when the lecture began.
The class was a basic course, but Kael found it almost effortless. Thanks to his Divine Sight and Divine Hearing, two components of his Four Divine Senses, everything the instructor said etched itself instantly into his memory. He barely even needed to study—just understand.
While the others struggled to keep up, Kael was relaxed and focused.
But as soon as the first period ended, someone came looking for him.
"Kael, someone's here for you!"
He looked toward the doorway—and immediately spotted the visitor's shaved, gleaming head. A bald guy. Kael recognized the type right away. Judging from the look, he was from the Chinese Cuisine Research Society.
Not surprising. After the chaos on the school forum, it was only a matter of time before Terunori Kuga's people came knocking.
Curious, Alice quietly followed to eavesdrop.
"Hello, Kael," the bald student said with a polite bow. "I'm Hiroshi Ishikawa, from the Chinese Cuisine Research Society. I've come on behalf of our captain to deliver this."
He handed Kael a sealed envelope.
"A challenge letter?" Kael said, taking it.
The nearby students overheard and froze.
"Wait, the captain of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society—that's Kuga-senpai, right?" one whispered.
It took only a second for the realization to spread. Terunori Kuga, one of the Elite Ten, was challenging Kael to a Shokugeki.
The news was explosive.
It was rare enough to see an Elite Ten member in a match, let alone one publicly challenging someone outside the council. And Kael, though not officially among them, had already earned a reputation that rivaled theirs.
A duel between him and an Elite Ten? This was going to shake the whole academy.
Kael broke the seal and skimmed the letter before smiling faintly. "A challenge, huh? Sure. I accept. But since it's a Shokugeki, we'll need to set the theme, time, and stakes."
"Our captain already decided the theme," Ishikawa explained. "Since this involves Chinese cuisine—and your Yu Xiang Rou Si was Sichuan Cuisine, which happens to be his specialty as well—he's chosen Sichuan Cuisine as the official theme."
He continued, "As for the time, you can decide that yourself. Once you confirm it, we'll handle arrangements with the Shokugeki Bureau. Lastly, the wager: if you lose, you'll join the Chinese Cuisine Research Society. If you win, you can name your own condition."
Kael listened quietly, then nodded. "Sichuan Cuisine's fine with me. Let's hold it the day after tomorrow. I've got my Four-Star Chef exam tomorrow, so I'll need time to rest."
He paused, then added, "As for the stakes... if he loses, he'll have to promote me."
Ishikawa blinked. "Promote you? What do you mean?"
Kael grinned. "Simple. I'm planning to start a small business soon—selling snacks, maybe street food. But I don't exactly have much of a reputation yet. So I want to borrow Kuga-senpai's Elite Ten fame. He'll do a little advertising for me. That's all."
The surrounding students stared at him like he'd grown another head.
A Shokugeki with an Elite Ten member... and that was his request? Not power, not prestige—just a marketing boost?
"I'll... ask our captain about that," Ishikawa said hesitantly.
When he relayed the message back to Kuga, the response was immediate.
"That's it? That's all he wants?" Kuga's brows rose in surprise. "Fine. Tell him I accept."
He wasn't worried.
Endorsing a small-time snack stall didn't cost him anything. If Kael's food turned out to be bad, he could just expose him later and protect his own reputation.
Honestly, he'd been expecting something far more outrageous—like demanding his Elite Ten seat or his position as captain of the Chinese Cuisine Research Society.
But a simple advertisement? That was almost laughably harmless.
Still, deep down, Kuga couldn't shake the feeling that Kael's calm confidence hid something much more dangerous than ambition.