Chapter 23 - End of a fight

Shinomiya looked at the result and saw his crushing defeat, deep down he didn't want to believe this, but everything was clear in front of him.

He may have not given it his all but he certainly made one of his top and luxurious dishes and it was defeat by a bunch of mixed sweet fruits and vegetables.

"This can't be!!" Shinomiya said with a small voice, he looked up at the judges who were looking at him with complicated eyes " Are you guys f.u.c.k.i.n.g with me again?!" he asked.

"Unfortunately Shinomiya-Kun, this no joke." Doujima stepped forward from behind the table and spoke with Shinomiya " Your dish lost to Alexander's...Can't say i'm surprised." Doujima closed his eyes in disappointment.

Shinomiya's anger rose again at Doujima's words " WHAT THE F.U.C.K DID YOU SAY?!!!" If he didn't know that he will get in too much deep trouble Shinomiya would have punched Doujima in the face " Do you mean that my cooking is inferior to a student's!!"? He pointed at Alexander who was cleaning his knife not minding what is going on there. Whatever happens there is not of his business.

"If this some sick joke for my previous behavior then it's very bad. How can I lose to a student who is still in his first year!!!!"

Doujima opened his eyes and looked at Shinomiya as he recalled his best friend from the past and how Shinomiya situation resembled his a lot " Shinomiya...You're stagnating aren't you....?" asked Doujima shocking Shinomiya and his friends at the same time.

Shinomiya recalled his journey to the top and how his dream was almost destroyed with the jealousy of the French chefs that worked with him and how his employees were changing his recipes each day just to leave their mark in his food.

How his restaurant gained a bad reputation after these events and how his business was going down with each day.

Shinomiya was like any chef with big dreams and vast ambitions but with him raising up trouble followed him and he had to decide, either stay the same and lose his dreams or change his kind way and be more strict in his own kitchen to make sure no one f.u.c.ks with his food.

In the end, it was the second choice, only with that Shinomiya was able to regain his reputation by blocking any attempt of improvisation on his dishes. Soon he reached the top and got his medal but when he reached the top, there was nothing ahead for him to walk towards.

All he could see is an endless empty sky up. With nothing to reach for, Shinomiya's ambition started to die slowly, his strict behavior in his kitchen merged with his everyday personality making him the douchebag he seems to everybody now.

In the end, he got his title as the magician...but what after that...? For years Shinomiya hadn't advanced even one step ahead in his cooking.

And with the dish he cooked for them today, Doujima was certain of it. It was clear to him and the other.

"The dish you've cooked earlier is a clear sign that you are the same as 5 years ago." Said Doujima, his words are like cannons hitting Shinomiya in the chest.

"SHUT UP!!!!" Shouted Shinomiya.

"You're still the same that even one of our third years has a chance of defeating you!" Added Doujima, he himself doesn't realize why he is going this far but he couldn't stop.

"I SAID SHUT UPPPP!!!" Shinomiya's voice cracked as he shouted as hard as he can. Inui wanted to go and hold him in her arms but she couldn't as Mizuhara hold her arm.

"Don't..." said Mizuhara.

"It is all true...." Said Doujima as he looked at the trembling " And your defeat now is proving to me nothing other than what I said." Doujima gestured at Alexander

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME???!!!!" shouted Shinomiya " WHAT WOULD YOU WHO ARE ARE JUST ONE TOTSUKI'S EMPLOYEES KNOW ABOUT ME!!! WHAT'VE GONE THROUGH WHAT I'VE SUFFERED!!! HOW DARE YOU SAY I'M STAGNATING!!!!" Shinomiya was shouting his frustration out, his pained voice is making his friends close their eyes as they don't want to see their friends in this state. Just his voice is making them feel bad.

"YOU THINK IT'S EASY TO RECOVER FROM WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO ME??!!! YOU THINK IT'S THAT EASY RIGHT??!!! HOW CAN I RECOVER FROM THAT IF I DROPPED MY GUARD FOR ONE DAY EVERYTHING WILL REPEAT ITSELF AGAIN??!!!" Shinomiya's eyes are red, he was on the verge of crying, all of his emotions that had been trapped inside of him from all of those years of suffering in the frontlines of the cooking world.

"Then why don't you recall why you started doing this, maybe that can help you!" Said Doujima with a smile, he handed the raging Shinomiya a small piece of his dish that he saved for him just for this moment.

"HUH??!!" Shinomiya looked confused, he doesn't understand what the black haired boy's dish has to do with him recalling his ambition.

"Just trust in me..." said Doujima with clear determination. Shinomiya looked in his eyes and was hesitant.

"Just take one bite, Shinomiya-senpai." Inui took the plate from Doujima's hand and handed it to Shinomiya who took unconsciously. Mizuhara, Hitoshi, and Donato too encouraged Shinomiya to do it. They've tasted the side and know what it can do. If Shinomiya could recall his past and why he started cooking and why he was striving for the top then it's sure he would at least recognize what he is missing.

Shinomiya couldn't keep refusing them and he took the fork and took a bite. His eyes shot open as he found himself standing in front of his past self filled with bruises and little of blood. He saw his mother running at him and scolding him because of fighting.

"Kojirou, you're always usin' rude words and thrustin' at others so they misunderstand you easily...but mom knows you're a kind lad." The little Shinomiya started tearing at his mother's kind words, the only person who truly understood him and accepted him. His mother took him home as she informed him that she made his favorite food.

At that, the old Shinomiya's eyes watered too. He remembered now, it wasn't to be famous, it wasn't so he can be the best chef. And definitely not because he wanted that useless medal.

Everything he did he did it for his mother, He learned cooking for her and he wanted to repay her for all the times she cooked for him, either healthy or sick, always looking after him.

Everything was for her.

Tears are falling on his cheeks behind his glasses, Shinomiya put down the fork as he wiped his tears, now he understands, he confused his goals.

His goal was to be a better chef to give his mother the best food in the world and not just to be the best in the world.

No of that matter, even if the world acknowledged him as the best it wouldn't matter if she herself didn't.

And even if the world refused his efforts as long as she said his cooking is the best, that was his ultimate goal. And he still got a long way to do that.

The empty sky now had another road for him to walk on. A road much better and longer than any road he had ever walked. And in the middle of that road is only one obstacle.

One obstacle named Saiba Alexander.

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Chapter 29 is out on Pat reon.

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Also, Should I make a discord?

But I don't even know what discord is for.