I.

Ring~!

Ring~!

Ri- Beep.

"… Hello~?"

"… Huh…? You're not my brother… did I call the wrong number…?"

"Oh! You must be Kyou's younger brother! Soma, right?"

"That's right. How do you know Kyou?"

"I'm a close friend of his~! Anyway, were you trying to get a hold of Kyou?"

"Yeah… Pops said that he would pick me up and take me to the examination room… but that was over two hours ago!"

"Haha! Sorry about that, Soma-kun~! Kyou got a bit… sidetracked at the moment but he should be done soon!"

"Well… alright…"

"I'm assuming you're waiting by the Main Gate?"

"Yeah. There's this huge crowd of people and everything right now… and I swear I saw a beach and at least three different farms on my way here! Just what kind of cooking school is Tootsuki anyway?!"

"The best kind, Soma-kun. But, don't worry! Kyou and I will pick you up in a few minutes, okay~?"

"Sure, guess I'll just sit here and take this all in…"

"Wonderful! We'll be there soon!"

"See ya!"

Kai Koanui ended the call and turned his attention back towards the stage, where a panel of judges were about to make their decision.

"Well, Judges?!" The announcer asked. "Who is the victor of this Shokugeki?!"

The judges were all silent for a moment, before each one raised their hand and rendered their vote.

"With his seventh Shokugeki win under his belt since his return from winter break… the unanimous winner of this match is… YUUUUUKIHIRA KYOUUUU!"

The observing audience let out a loud cheer as the screens lining the arena-like room flashed with the winner's name.

'Like there was any doubt that Kyou would lose,' Kai thought with a smirk. He pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and made his way towards the center of the raised stage, his dark hair and tanned skin shining under the bright lights of the arena.

"Kyou~! Congrats on yet another win~!"

Yukihira Kyou turned and removed the hair tie holding back his wavy, auburn locks. His golden eyes shone with excitement and Kai couldn't tell if the slight flush in Kyou's cheeks was from the heat of the kitchen or from the adrenaline high that he seemed to get whenever he stepped foot in a kitchen.

It was probably the latter.

"Kai! I can't believe that it's been two hours already! Two hours is not nearly enough time for me to get all my ideas and dishes done! I had three more dishes that I wanted the judges to taste so they could give me their feedback!"

… Definitely the latter.

Openly smiling, as he handed Kyou his cell phone, Kai responded, "Kyou… you managed to make four completely different and completely delectable dishes for the judges and for your opponent to enjoy. Anymore and I think they would have passed out from sheer ecstasy~!"

"Still… do you think that the Shokugeki Committee will listen to my request of making the time limit longer for Shokugeki? I mean… the matches should at least be three hours!"

Kai's smile turned indulgent. "Well~, it can't hurt to try."

Determination flashed in Kyou's eyes and he adjusted his glasses with a nod of his head. "Alright then! I'm going to go to their building right now and tell them about my request!"

"Wait a minute, Kyou!" Kai's hand shot forward and grabbed a hold of Kyou's arm before the bespectacled teen could run off. "Before you go racing off anywhere, I need to tell you that your brother called a few minutes ago wondering where you where."

"… Shit! I forgot that Soma would be coming to take the transfer exam today! Aw man… I should've moved my Shokugeki against Jacob to another day!"

"And miss an opportunity to work in a kitchen? The day you do that is the day the world ends, Kyou~."

The auburn-haired teen grumbled half-heartedly – mainly because he knew that Kai was right, he wasn't one to turn down a chance to cook – and set a brisk pace towards the buildings' exit. "Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that I promised my dad and Soma that I'd show him around Tootsuki before his exam. While cooking is important to me, family is just as important! Now… if we hurry up, we should be able to make it to the Examination Hall while the exam is underway! Once Soma passes – and he will – then I'll be able to show him around his new school!"

"You seem to hold your brother in a high regard, Kyou."

Kyou threw a carefree grin over his shoulder. "Of course! After all, Soma is one of the few people that can keep up with me whenever I cook!"

'… Well now… I'm eager to see just how talented this younger brother of yours is, Kyou.'

.

.

.

II.

'I-I can't accept this!' Nakiri Erina thought angrily as she glared down at the egg-and-rice dish she had just tasted. 'Th-This no-name, second-rate chef… to think that he would be capable of creating such a plebian dish and making it so that I-?!'

"So?" Yukihira Soma leered with a grin. "How was it? Was it bad? Was it good? C'mon… tell me!"

Erina jerked her head up and pinned her glare on the rude, unrepentant red-haired teen that stood across from her. 'N-NO! I can't- I won't accept someone like him into the academy!'

"I-It was the most disgusting thing that I've e-ever had! You fail!"

"… Huh." Soma blinked.

"… Huh." Kai said.

"… Huh?!" Kyou yelled.

"… Huh?!" Erina cried. "K-Koanui-kun? K-Kyou-sempai?! What are you two doing here?!"

"Aw~ You know me, Erina-chan~! Wherever Kyou goes, I go!"

"I'm here because I wanted to see how my brother's exam was going… but I must have misheard you just now, Erina… My brother failed?! How?!"

Erina drew back in shock. "Th-This p-person is your brother, Kyou-sempai?!"

"Yes!" Kyou yelled, throwing his hands up. "Why are you so surprised, Erina? We have the same last name!"

"I-I thought it was just a coincidence! If he's your brother, Kyou-sempai, then how come he didn't enroll here when he was in middle school?!"

"Oh, that's easy," Soma piped in with a grin and chuckle, "I didn't know anything about Tootsuki back then and I didn't see a need for me to leave my old middle school."

"Originally," Kyou added, "Soma was just going to stay at our family's shop but with Dad abroad now and no relative able to look after him, we all thought it best for Soma to transfer here since we don't know how long Dad's going to be gone."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what happened," Soma agreed with a nod. "Although… I have to admit that Tootsuki is a whole lot different than what I thought it would be like…"

Kyou huffed out a laugh and slanted his eyes towards his younger brother, a teasing smile on his face. "What? You thought Tootsuki would be like one of those small, cooking schools that you always ended up taking over back home?"

Soma shrugged. "To be honest: yeah."

"If Tootsuki was anything like that, then there's no way I'd have spent the past four years of my life here when I could have could have spent that time learning and training under Dad instead."

"I guess that makes sense…," Soma admitted before narrowing his eyes at Kyou. "But! Why didn't you tell me Tootsuki was a fancy, gigantic place like this?!"

"Hey! I showed you pictures from my middle school and my first year of high school here!"

"Yeah, well, I thought those pictures were from places you ended up travelling to for school trips! You mean to tell me that this school has a forest and a swamp in it?!"

"Yes to the forest, no to the swamp. There are actually several different types of forests scattered around the campus all with different vegetation and wildlife inhabiting it. It helps maintain a certain freshness and quality to the ingredients we use. The swamp photo actually was from a school trip that we took earlier this year!"

Soma pinned his older brother with an incredulous stare. "… You mean to tell me that you ended up visiting an actual swamp?!"

"Yep!" Kyou chirped brightly. "It was really educational and fascinating! We got to see first-hand how crocodiles are handled and skinned and we even got to create our own dish using fresh crocodile meat!"

"What?! That sounds like a ton of fun! Why didn't you tell me Tootsuki sent you to places like that, Kyou?!"

"Well, you were the one who didn't want to enroll here for middle-school, Soma. I even gave you that pamphlet and book about Tootsuki, remember?"

"… Oh yeah…" Soma rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I ended up using those for kindling for my hibachi grill…"

"But, we're getting off track, Soma!" The auburn-haired teen whirled around and pinned Erina – who had been watching the conversation between the brothers with wide eyes – with a hard stare. "You really felt that Soma's dish was the worst thing you ever had, Erina? Again… how?! Our dad taught me everything I know and I helped teach Soma everything he knows! … Unless…" A sudden realization dawned on the bespectacled teen and he turned to his younger brother with a sharp frown. "… Soma, were you experimenting just now and served something that really was 'disgusting'? Like one of your squid and peanut butter dishes?"

"Like you're one to talk about experimenting and serving bad food, Kyou~" Kai's comment went unnoticed.

Soma scratched the back of his head. "Well… I wouldn't say it's an 'experiment' per say… this is a dish I created back at the shop a while ago and Pops and the customers seemed to really like it so it became a permanent secret menu item!"

Kyou blinked and moved closer to where Soma's dish sat. "Really?" He asked with an intrigued look. "What's in it?"

"Basically, it's a Transforming Furikake Rice Bowl! I boiled chicken wings with bonito stock, sake, and light soy sauce then cooled it to make a chicken broth jelly then I scrambled eggs and minced it before serving all of it on a hot bowl of rice!"

Kyou leaned forward with sparkling eyes. "Oooh! That sounds good, Soma! Mind if I take a bite?"

The red-haired teen threw his head back with a laugh. "No problem! Eat all you'd like, Kyou!"

Humming in anticipation, Kyou grabbed a clean set of chopsticks and scooped up some of the egg, rice, and jelly before eating it. He closed his eyes in delight as the chicken's saltiness clashed wonderfully with the eggs' natural sweetness.

"It's delicious in its simplicity, Soma!" Kyou declared with bright eyes. "Amazing!"

"Hehe… thanks, Kyou!"

"Although… would you like to hear what I would do differently next time?"

"Sure!"

"When you begin to boil the chicken wings, I would also add in garlic, onions, and a few bay leaves to add a note of sharp, bitterness to the jellied stock."

"That makes senses… the bitterness would help cut through the rich body of the jelly…"

"And I would also do something with the rice… maybe you could use basmati rice next time? It's a longer grain of rice that isn't as sticky and would allow for the chicken and egg flavor to permeate the entire bowl."

"… But, if the rice isn't sticky, wouldn't it be harder to eat? Especially when the jellied broth liquefies and turns back into a soup? It'd be hard for people to eat something like that with chopsticks."

"But then the rice should be able to soak up all that broth, right? If it does that, then the broth would get even more flavor since basmati rice has a nutty taste."

"… That sounds delicious, but over complicated."

"What do you mean, Soma?"

"Well… normal white rice has been a perfect vehicle to this dish so far because it's sticker than other types of rice and has no inherent flavor which allows the broth and egg's flavor to shine more. Plus it's easier to eat with chopsticks!"

"That's true… Say, why don't we each make a different version of your Transforming Furikake Rice Bowl right now? You can use regular white rice and I'll make it using basmati rice."

"Sure thing! Though, I hope you don't mind me taking a few of your suggestions, Kyou!"

Kyou waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, I don't mind, Soma. What we're mainly trying to do here is to see which rice is better in this dish so, you can make all the changes to the eggs and broth as you'd like."

The red-haired teen jutted his chin out with a proud smile. "Heh… I'll have you know that the Old Man's taught me some new tricks since we last saw each other! This time my dish will be loads better than yours, Kyou!"

Kyou's grin was sharp and competitive. "Well then… I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've improved, Soma!"

As the two brothers began to pull out mixing bowls and frying pans, the remaining trio of spectators couldn't help but blink in surprise at the sudden change of events.

"D… Did, Yukihira-sempai forget that you failed his brother already, Erina-sama?" Arato Hisako asked dazedly.

"P-Perhaps he did, Hisako," Erina replied, a hopeful lilt to her voice.

Kai shrugged and crossed his arms. "Meh… I wouldn't count on it, Hisako, Erina-chan. Although," he slanted his dark eyes towards the blonde standing next to him, "it makes me wonder why you even failed Kyou's brother in the first place, Erina. From what Kyou's told me, his brother is one of the few people that he actually enjoys cooking with and that can keep up with him in the kitchen."

"H-He insulted Tootsuki's pride by applying here when he has no formal education or training in anything culinary!"

Kai stared blankly at Erina for a few moments. "… He 'insulted' Tootsuki's pride? Or your pride, Erina-chan?"

"Watch your tongue, Koanui!" Hisako cried indignantly, taking a step towards him.

The dark-haired teen smirked and raised his hands in a placating manner. "Calm down, Hisako~ Your blood pressure will rise if you keep on yelling and glaring at me like like that~!"

"Koanui!"

"But," Kai turned his attention back towards Erina, "you do realize that you were basically making a decision that went against Tootsuki's policies, right? At Tootsuki, we don't care about bloodline or pedigree or 'formal' training or the such… the only thing that matters here is how well you can cook. Which begs the question… can Kyou's younger brother cook or not?"

Erina was silent for a long time.

"… Yes…," Erina bit out begrudgingly – looking as if the very word was causing her physical pain. "While the dish he made was nothing special when compared to 5-star or even 2-star restaurants… it was… passable…"

"Then that's all that matters."

Erina fell silent as she watched Soma laugh and chat with Kyou as they cooked. Something in her chest… ached at the sight of them smiling happily as they worked side-by-side.

"… Hisako."

"Yes, Erina-sama?"

"Send word to my grandfather: only one applicant passed today's examination, Yukihira Soma."

And here's the sister story to Remember that I said I was in the middle of writing!

In this version, Kyou did not meet Azami when participating in the International Children's Competition and so did not receive 'training' from him. He is in his first-year of high school in this chapter and will be in his second-year when Soma begins his first-year at Tootsuki.

(In Remember, Kyou would have also been in his second-year of high school but was held back a grade after returning from America.)

Because Kyou did not meet Azami in this story, his personality is a lot different than his Remember!counterpart.

As always, please let me know what you all thought of this via PM or Review!