The Cooking Test (3)

Meanwhile, the reading club had just finished discussing the summary of the first book that they would be reading, handing out a code for a digital copy to each new member. The school had a system where they could access any book in the school's library online, making it convenient and cheaper for the club to operate.

There were 34 new people who had joined, and they were all required to attend the preliminary meeting. It seemed like a high number, but since the reading club was often regarded as a leisure choice, more than half of them had joined simply because they didn't feel like doing strenuous activities or would rather prefer to focus on their academics.

This meant that a good portion of them would likely not attend most of the sessions in the future.

Greeny picked up his assigned code, reading the row of numbers and the book's description below it. Airi followed right behind, and they started whispering to each other in excitement.

"I've heard of this book, it's rated super high and the world-building is great apparently," she murmured under her breath.

"M-Me too. I've been w-wanting to read this for a long time!"

One of the supervising seniors then made an announcement to the crowd of students.

"Ok everyone! Now that everyone has a copy, you're free to do as you please! For those who want to go home, we won't stop you. But the others who plan to start reading right away can choose from these two areas," he said as he pointed to two different doors on the opposite sides of the library. "The Feather Zone is for the members who want to read quietly by themselves, while the Chatter Zone allows you to discuss the book with other members freely, though you still can't make a lot of noise!"

The freshmen started discussing amongst themselves wondering what they should do. A lot of them simply packed up their bags and left after bowing to the seniors, and some headed to the Feather Zone for peace and quiet.

"Chatter Zone?" Airi asked, tilting her head at Greeny.

"S-Sure," he replied with a foolishly happy smile.

He could never have imagined being able to do things like this with friends before, so his joy stemmed more from the fact that he finally had people to do fun stuff with rather than excitement over the book itself.

Before they headed to the door, they both glanced at Hina. The shy girl was hugging her kindle to her chest, her gaze alternating between the Feather Zone and the exit.

It seemed like she was either considering going home or reading by herself.

***

'If only Haruna-chan was here....'

Hina sighed sadly. Just as she had made the decision to go home for now and think about club activities later, she saw two people approaching her.

A lively girl with purple hair tied into long bouncy pigtails and an awkward green-haired boy who looked even more timid than she did. They both wore glasses, and more or less appeared to be quite friendly.

"Hello, you're Sakuraba-san right? We're in the same class!" Airi piped up with a welcoming smile.

Hina was a little taken aback, instinctively looking behind her to see if she was talking to someone else even though she was mentioned by name.

"U-Um, yes that's me. You're Fujimoto-san and Ichihara-san right?" she finally replied quietly.

"Yes! I'm glad you know us! We were both heading to the Chatter Zone so that we could read the book together. I was wondering if you wanted to join us, it would be more fun if there was another person to discuss with."

Airi invited her actively, with Greeny nodding along. Hina stayed silent, not expecting the sudden conversation from two people she had never talked with before.

She hesitated, for multiple reasons. She was never great with meeting people she didn't know.

Even with Haruna it had taken her a while to open up, and that was only because she was so insistent, as well as the fact that they shared similar tastes.

She also knew that these two had started hanging out with Yagami-kun, and though she knew she was being incredibly judgmental, it made her subconsciously think that they might not be great people out of caution.

Just as she was about to refuse, Greeny spoke up after noticing her hesitation.

"It-It'll be fun! Otherwise won't it be too b-boring to read it on your own?" he said encouragingly, holding up the ebook in his hands with an innocent face.

Hina tightly clenched her own copy at those words.

'....Am I really going to turn down the chance to make new friends? If I keep running away like this, it'll just be an endless cycle of running away and then hating myself...'

After a brief thought, she looked up and nodded, with determination in her hazel-colored eyes.

"Ok, that does sound more fun!"

***

"On your stations each of you has been provided with a basket of ingredients. They contain the same types of vegetables and two cuts of different meats. Your task is to cut them up into smaller portions in the styles indicated on the screen within 10 minutes. You will be judged on precision, wastage, speed, and some hidden components that we won't reveal!"

Mizuno Senpai pointed to the screen projector where various cuts of vegetables were displayed. Julienne style carrots, diced onions, bell pepper strips etc. There was also a chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces and a whole salmon that was filleted.

These pictures showed them the end result of what the judges were expecting from a starting point of uncut ingredients, and with only 10 minutes allotted to them it certainly wouldn't be easy.

"All of you ready? Your time starts.....NOW!"

Reiji quickly started washing his hands and then the vegetables first, knowing the importance of hygiene. As he reached for the bell peppers, an enraged shout came from the station in front of him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY ARE YOU WASHING THE CHICKEN??"

He looked up and saw one of the seniors berating a wiry man, who was trembling with confusion. In his hand was a chicken breast that he had been rinsing off in the sink.

Reiji shook his head in disbelief.

'What a rookie mistake...'

"Don't you know that washing chicken increases the risk of cross-contamination and can cause foodborne illnesses? That's basic knowledge!" The senior yelled in frustration.

"I-I didn't know...." the man mumbled nervously.

"Take off your apron, you're disqualified!"

The freshman gaped in shock at the decision, not expecting to be prevented from even completing the round before getting eliminated. He reluctantly complied, though the dissatisfaction on his face was evident.

Not even a minute passed before another disqualification occurred, and this time a girl was being forced to leave early. On her station were carrots that had been cut into extremely uneven strips, making them practically useless for most recipes unless they were diced.

'They really are harsh haha,' Reiji chuckled internally.

Can't blame them though, not with what would be on the line later in the year.

He decided to block out the noise and focus on his own work, quickly breaking down the carrots into neat and even julienne strips. He had done similar tasks so many times that it had become practically second nature to him.

In his part time jobs, he was mostly assigned to prep work because of his age and inexperience, so this was a piece of cake. Reiji still needed to be careful though, since he was still working with an incredibly sharp knife.

Even a small slip-up could injure him or ruin his progress.

He systematically moved across each ingredient, making sure that the meats were placed on a different cutting board so that there was no cross-contamination. The knife glided quickly and accurately across his station with no wasted movements, ensuring that all edible parts of the food were included into his final portions.

Finally, he finished dicing the chicken breast and placed his knife down. Looking up at the timer, there was still over 4 minutes left for this round which he was quite happy with.

He could have gone slightly faster, but there was no need for that. It would have just increased the risk of messing up, and he had finished well-within the provided duration.

He peeked at Haruna's workspace and nodded with satisfaction, encouraged by her progress. Although with her current speed she would be cutting it really close, her completed portions suggested that she was focusing on uniformity and precision.

If she managed to finish in time, she'd pass through easily.

As he was watching her, the same senior who had disqualified the two contestants walked up to his area. She studied his portions and her eyes widened in slight surprise, glancing at Reiji with interest.

"Wow, not bad at all, there's almost no wasted parts and they're very evenly cut! And considering you finished so fast, you must cook pretty often," She asked with a hint of appreciation.

"Yeah, I love to cook," he smiled.

"...I'll be looking forward to your dish then," she chuckled, moving on to check on the other participants.

Soon, the timer ran out as Reiji waited patiently.

"TIME'S UP! PUT YOUR KNIVES DOWN IMMEDIATELY!"

The second round was over, and judging by the difference in quality of the prep work, a lot of students would be eliminated this time as well.