Summary: Nakiri Erina, also known as God's Palette in the international world of cooking. Across the globe and back, chefs and patrons work hard to earn the impossible; her praise. For the years during her stay at Tootsuki, that has been nigh impossible, such a thought was ludicrous. That was… until one common looking boy appeared during the Totsuki Transfer Exam.

Nakiri Erina, famed for her exceptional qualities in tasting food, has just expelled another student from Totsuki Culinary Academy. Also known as God's Palette, her face scrunched in disgust as her eyes shifted into an air of coldness, smiting the offender and their dish with a quick banishment from the Sanctuary that was the Academy.

As the granddaughter of Nakiri Senzaemon, the director of Totsuki Culinary Academy, she was given unlimited range on her powers, by having the ability of expulsion on the spot due to her high standards of dishes. No one in history of cooking has ever experience the praise of Nakiri Erina… save for one alumni of Totsuki that satisfied her tongue when she was a child, Saiba Jouichirou. To hidden knowledge, Erina had a small crush on the chef and still did to this day, keeping a small picture taken of the two that was stashed in her diary for safekeeping.

Other than that, Erina had finished with the morning's routine, expelling a total of 13 students. She walked briskly, with her dear assistant and aide Arato Hisako. Clutching a clipboard like a dutiful secretary, she rattled on what was next on the agenda to her dear friend and superior.

"Erina-sama, you have a meeting coming with the Elite Ten in an hour, followed by another meeting with Nakiri Senzaomon-sama, a thirty minute break, then followed by a two-hour session with your Research Society…" As Arato spoke, the duo were making their way to latest event on the agenda. The Transfer Exam.

As Arato continued, Erina flipped her hair with a dainty hand, before scoffing, allowing the aide to take a breath from her ramblings.

"If anything, Hisako, everything should be pushed forward an hour. The Transfer Exam will bring nothing like disappointment like every other time. I might as well not bring a "pass" stamp with me!" She exclaimed, clutching the a red stamp marked with the words "fail" and a green one with "pass" in her hands. Erina thought for a second, before shaking her head. "Rather, I should break it in front of the transferees to let them know that their efforts are futile."

Hisako could only wince at the harshness of her... friend, as they neared the exam site. Knowing Erina, she meant 100% of what she said. It was rumored that Erina was a sadist when it came to cooking, and anyone that was caught talking about it within her hearing range were quickly dispatched with a quick expulsion and eternal damnation. As they neared, the two could hear the excited chattering of the potential failures that were here today. As she made her way through the back to the stage, she made it an effort to clomp her feet onto the wood to catch their attention.

It worked pretty well, as all eyes were drawn to her being. Her eyes caught looks of admiration and fear, as she approached the podium.

"Hello, potential students of Totsuki Culinary Academy…" Erina started, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. If one were looking carefully, they would notice the slight twitch of eyebrow as she continued. "My name is Nakiri Erina, your proctor for the Transfer Exam." She concluded. She paused to catch her breath as she continued.

"Your exam is to impress me with your dish using a key ingredient." She followed up by taking an egg from Hisako, holding it up. The air grew tense as Erina made it her motivation to deter the transferees by means of maliciousness. "Out of all… 300 of you, I will guarantee that less than 10 of you will make it." The audience tensed, digesting the words of the famed God's Palette with an unmatched seriousness.

"If you want, you can save yourself from your public humiliation if you leave in the next minute." Instantly, the crowd dispersed as they all headed to the exit, pushing people out of the way. Erina scoffed, flipping her hair as she turned to her aide.

"Like I said Hisako-chan, just a bunch of failures." With an air of finality, she started to head off the stage… only to be met with the sound of a knife being drawn from a wood block. She stopped and whipped her head around, curious on who would stay after such a display of ruthlessness, only to be met with a young male.

The male had unruly red hair as his eyebrow had a small scar running vertically and an irritating grin that came with it. Dressed in a black shirt and a white cloth wrapped around his forearm and dull looking pants, the person before her had already irritated her.

"So I see that I didn't scare everyone away." She said haughtily, as she stared more at the person below.

The boy's grin widened in amusement as he spoke. "Ohou, ojou-chan!~, you grace me with your presence." The boy teased, earning a glare from Erina and Hisako.

"Enough out of you, commoner. You should leave like the rest, so that you don't stain your already disgraceful cooking, you third-rate chef!" She spoke with authority, challenging the young man whose grin only grew.

"Mah mah, don't get so uppity now, Nakiri-san! I'll show you my cooking skill!" And with that exclamation, the young man got to work. Dashing towards the fridge, the redhead grabbed a few eggs and grains of rice, followed by some green onion and to her surprise… a plastic bag. More specifically, a plastic bag with the name Nature Mart on the front with some odd looking leaf logo. Her eyebrow twitched when he reached into the bag, and she almost lost it when she identified what he pulled out… a package of supermarket beef.

"They were having a sale, what a steal, don'tcha think?" The young man chuckled in amusement, before grabbing a pot and deflecting a familiar red stamp that was thrown at his head. "Now that wasn't nice, ojou-chan." The male teased, making her even more infuriated as she grabbed the clipboard and was about to throw it.

"Do you think this is a game!? You're attempting to enter Totsuki Culinary Academy, the most sought and prestigious cooking institute in. The. World! Don't play games with me, you third-rate chef!" Erina bit at the boy with her words, who only gave her a cheesy grin.

"Well, cooking is supposed to be fun, isn't it? To learn and taste all the food that different cultures offer is the best!" He said with conviction, making Erina stunned a tad… before that all flew out the window with his next line. "Besides, I didn't wanna come here anyway, my old man forced me to." He said with a small frown, before smiling again. "Let's get to work!"

In a dramatic display, the young male undid the white cloth on his forearm as he held each end in his palms. As if offering it a silent air of respect, he tied the cloth around his forehead and with a tight pull, raised his head. Only now did Erina notice the amber colored eyes of this… force of nature as he rose his knife. It all happened in a blur to Erina, as her eyes couldn't keep up with the male's motions. Plastic and casings went everywhere, as the male sliced the packaged beef and ungracefully dumped it onto the cutting board table. Taking quick cuts with ungodly amounts of precision, he chopped the beef into strips before throwing it into a pan that was already buttered and on a flame.

Throwing the grains of rice into a claypot, the young chef added water and brought it to a flame as well. With lightning speed, he broke into the green onions and chopped it into even sized pieces as well and threw it onto the rice, having absorbed some water at this point. In a stance, the chef positioned himself in between both burners as one hand grasped the handle of the pan and the other onto the handle of the clay pot. Moving both in clockwise motions, the young chef counted down in his head as the rice was being tossed about in the claypot, and the beef was simultaneously being flipped to even out the cooking process. In a matter of a few minutes, the rice was withdrawn from the burner, as was the beef.

Popping the lid open, the chef poured the rice into a bowl, specks of green onion popping out, before the beef was laid on top of it, the juices of the meat being drizzled over the dish. Erina stared, stunned at the speed of the chef presented before her as she looked at the dish. It was… a bowl of rice and beef with finely chopped green onions. She could only gape at the sheer simplicity of the dish before her. You could buy that for 99 cents at a convenience store! It came in the dozens, as was it cheap! She judged the dish with narrow eyes as she stepped down the stage to look at it.

If anything, it looked unimpressive. The dish was largely unassuming and looked like the food bowls one would also find at a gas station. Her mind started to prod her as she looked at it again, before chuckling.

"Impressive as that may be, I don't see the key ingredient here… you fail!" As she was reaching in her pocket for her spare, smaller "fail" stamp, the chef came into her view before her eyes widened in shock. A glint came from the side of his body as it was coming at her in alarming speeds. Her eyes caught the object and she braced for impact and almost let out a bloodcurdling scream… before the knife embedded itself onto the table near the bowl. Regardless, Erina let out a shriek of fright as her aide Hisako already jumped down to intervene. Before she could do so, the chef laughed boisterously at Erina's reaction.

"Oh! You should've seen your face, ojou-chan! Bwahahahah!" The chef clutched his sides as he almost fell, missing the flustered and furious look that adorned her face.

"How dare you try to threaten me with a-" She stopped, her nose picking up on the scent of something being cooked on the stove. Turning her head, she saw the young chef handle a pan as he made his way back to the bowl of rice. Two, sunny yellow yolks stared at her as the chef placed it on top of the rice, covering the grains from view in tandem with the strips of beef. As an added measure, the chef grasped something behind him and in a flash, added something to the eggs. When the chef withdrew his hand, Erina came face to face with… a smiley face.

The egg whites became the skin tone as the yolks became the eyes. A curvature of ketchup became the mouth and the beef became the hair. Effectively, it was a happy food bowl that stared at her with permanent delight.

"...you're a joke." Erina said, disbelieving as she stared at the happy face below her. Hisako stood to the side, but was just as appalled that someone would serve a simple dish to a proctor in an effort to be admitted into Totsuki Culinary Academy, the pinnacle of any budding chef's career. And to Nakiri Erina, God's Palette nonetheless! Hisako could only stare blankly as Erina regained her bearings.

"Tell me why I shouldn't be already tossing this… pedestrian dish!" She pointed a finger towards the exit. "And you with it, out of this academy!?" Erina bellowed at the young man. The chef looked at her oddly, raising an eyebrow to show confusion.

"I put lots of love into it, just for you!" The chef said cheekily, earning her ire as she grit her teeth, before sighing.

"You at least made something out of the other 299 students that you came with." She looked deeply unimpressed at the dish, before flicking her eyes towards the beaming chef. "Do you have a name for this… dish before I expel you?" The young chef smiled.

"But of course! This is my dish for you, Nakiri-san. With my heart and soul in the very first dish of many, I present to you, A Poor God's Blessing. Enjoy." With a bow, the chef bowed before fishing out a spoon and handing it to Erina. Snatching it out of his hand, she stared more at the dish.

"A Poor God's Blessing, huh?" She said, as her spoon dug into the egg yolk, popping the eyes of the smiley face. Gathering at least one of everything in the bowl, she spoke to the chef again.

"I bet it tastes like filth, a poor god indeed…" She said lowly, before taking the spoon into her mouth.

Erina let the food hit her tongue, before she saw. At first, she was staring into the amber eyes of a young chef with mirth within them, and then she saw black. Total darkness surrounded her, as the spoon dropped from her mouth. She frantically looked around, but the deep blackness was all there was. Erina was highly confused and panicky, afraid that she may have fallen into a trap involving some drug of sorts, before she felt a pressure.

She turned around, feeling the pressure on her front before a speck of light appeared. It was a small white flame, glowing in the darkness as it flickered. Erina was still in a state of confusion, before it the flame withered into a small ember. Just as it seemed to go out, the dark exploded. Erina was suddenly aware of her surroundings. Black clashed against the small dots of white, green, blue, red, orange, etc as light of all colors and shades appeared before her. The area around her warped, bringing her into the cosmos as she floated in the universe itself. Had the chef's cooking create a flavor so strong, a figurative universe had exploded inside of her!? Erina could only become dead to the world, as a literal Big Bang had erupted in her brain.

The unassuming dish that was the rice bowl had melted her brain and senses, cranking them into hyperdrive. The stars and galaxies flew past Erina as she traveled at light speed, cutting through space like a rocket ship. She sped through the Milky Way, weaved in between the Pillars of Creation, almost becoming one of the galaxies itself! Before she stopped… arriving at the almighty, Eye of God Nebula. Erina looked at the eye in fascination, before she heard something tear to her right. She glanced and saw another Eye of God, before felt herself being pulled backwards. The Eyes of God twisted and turned, as the large nebulas became quite literally… eyes.

To be specific, amber eyes. A face came afterward, followed by hair, eyebrows, lips, ears and the works. She stared wide-eyed as the universe suddenly became stark white. The person in front was garbed in white clothing, revealing his arms and legs. The red haired God before her floated towards her. A stray finger brushed against her cheek, before it was followed by a calloused hand that rested on her cheek.

She unknowingly snuggled deeper into the hand while retaining eye contact, the warmth that radiated from the limb, not to mention his smile. Dear Kami in heaven, that smile melted her from the inside out, as she smiled too. In an act of intimacy, the God pulled her into his embrace, smothering her with his warmth. A brilliant halo appeared at the top of his head, as the sound of wings sprouted from his back before wrapping the duo, bound in feathers.

She could feel the high heavens below her feet when he broke contact, making her whimper from the loss of warmth and ease. She had closed her eyes earlier, too enshrouded by the feeling. Opening her eyes, she gasped as wondrous constructs made from clouds and marble surrounded the two. She looked up and saw angels decorating the skies, as some were seated on clouds that were higher, water falling from them like springs. The angels above were playing harps and drinking wine, some danced with another while others clapped along. Her feelings only intensified when the God before her grabbed her hand and leaned in, his lips touching her forehead. She sighed in happiness, eternal bliss spreaded out from her core and into her body as a whole. She leaned in, wanting to explore their time together as a couple, as did he. Their lips were centimeters apart… when the scene changed once again.

She was in school. Staring at the chef before her who was wearing a grin just like the God in her dream. The spoon was laid upon the wood table, as she could feel the intensity of her breathing from her nose and mouth, panting. Her heart pounded at the chef before her, his grin sending tingles and sparks up her spine and into her core. The whole illusion only lasted a second.

"So, Erina-chan~" The chef spoke, his honeyed voice spilling into her ears. Her eyes snapped to meet his, and it took her breath away, The way the sun shone over his hair gave it a quality shine, as a breeze flowed through, making it flutter in the wind, enhancing his looks. "...did you enjoy my gift to you?"

She could only stare, dazed as a blush came over her.

The chef chuckled, before patting her head.

"In any case, the name's Yukihira Souma, chef of Restaurant Yukihira. I'll be there if you decide to let me into your academy. Goodbye for now, Erina-chan~" The chef turned his back, and made his way towards the exit.