Ten minutes later.
Hayashi, Erina, Sabrina, the awakened Hisako, and the golden-haired beauty were now sitting comfortably in the leisure area on the second deck, chatting happily.
"Oh? Miss Kamitsure is actually a Gym Leader from the Unova region?" Hisako widened her eyes in surprise. "I thought you were some kind of big celebrity!"
"Mhm~ Besides being a part-time Gym Leader, my main job is actually modeling!" Kamitsure flipped her hair with a charming smile. "And you can just call me Elesa—that's my nickname."
"Part-time Gym Leader…"
Erina made a strange expression. "Isn't being a Gym Leader supposed to be a full-time job?"
"Well, it is, isn't it?" Elesa gave a slightly ambiguous smile. "But compared to that, I just prefer modeling more."
"Eh? Why?" Hisako asked curiously.
"While being a Gym Leader does let me shine, the version of me on stage as a model is definitely the brightest!" A faint glow of excitement appeared on Elesa's face.
"I see—"
Erina and Hisako understood now—this Gym Leader clearly had a showy, performance-loving personality. No wonder she preferred modeling—it definitely put her in the spotlight!
"Still, modeling, huh…" Erina gave Elesa a once-over before nodding. "No wonder your figure is so good! Hey, Elesa, does modeling require really strict body maintenance?"
"Mmm, yes." Elesa pouted slightly, looking a bit unhappy. "To maintain my figure, I have a professional nutritionist planning all my meals to make sure I don't exceed my calorie intake. I also have to do regular workouts and yoga, plus cut out all snacks and high-calorie foods…"
"Uwaah—"
Hearing this, all three beauties present wore pained expressions.
"Just imagining it is painful enough—" Erina covered her face with her hands. "If it were me, there's no way I could endure something like that."
Exercise and yoga weren't too bad, but the whole "can't eat many things" part was absolutely unacceptable to her—as a chef, how could she possibly impose dietary restrictions on herself?
'Honestly, I don't think you two need to worry about that…' Hayashi, who was sunbathing nearby, stroked his chin in thought. 'People from the gourmet world seem to have special constitutions.'
This wasn't just baseless speculation—looking at all the major food-themed manga, there were rarely any excessively overweight characters. Even the chubby Aldini brother from Food Wars! would slim down drastically by summer.
Hayashi suspected that the rule of "people in the gourmet world don't get fat" was just like how people in the Pokémon world couldn't be harmed by Pokémon moves—a unique law of the world.
"Well, if you want to be beautiful and dazzling, you have to make some sacrifices." Elesa, however, seemed unfazed. After all, if she couldn't stick to it, she wouldn't have achieved what she had today.
"But, low-calorie food, huh..." Erina rested her chin on her hand with a thoughtful expression, while Hisako beside her also fell into deep contemplation, making Elesa tilt her head in confusion.
"What's wrong with them?" Elesa couldn't help but ask as she watched the two suddenly go silent.
"Well, for you... it's probably good news?" Hayashi winked at Elesa and said smugly, "Our Erina-chan and Hisako-chan's cooking skills are absolutely championship-level!"
"I can vouch for that," Sabrina nodded seriously from the side. "At the very least, I've never tasted anything so delicious before—it's the kind of flavor that completely overturns your expectations!"
Elesa wore a dubious expression and muttered, "Is it really that amazing?"
Hayashi didn't argue. Instead, he crossed his arms and said with a playful smirk, "Heh, you'll find out when you eat it tonight."
Elesa pressed a hand to her forehead. "Did you forget what I just said? My meals are strictly planned by my nutritionist, so—"
"That's exactly why I said it's good news for you!" Hayashi cut her off, gesturing toward Erina and Hisako. "Right now, they're probably thinking about how to make your food tastier without increasing the calorie count."
Elesa was stunned. "That's possible? No way..."
Hayashi wagged his finger dismissively. "Oh, Elesa! How naive—sweeter than Fuko and Anya's ship! You have no idea what the name Erina Nakiri represents!"
Elesa was taken aback by his confidence and instinctively asked, "What does it represent?"
"It represents the tsundere ojou-sama!"
"Idiot!"
Snapping back to reality, Erina delivered an elbow strike to Hayashi with a dark expression, glaring at him before turning back to Elesa. "Elesa, could you show me the meal plan your nutritionist prepared for you?"
"Quick, give it to her—" Hayashi clutched his side, hissing in pain. "The enchantment master is about to upgrade your blueprint with god-tier buffs. It's gonna go from a white-tier item to a rainbow legendary—"
"Enough already!"
Erina hated that she could perfectly understand Hayashi's references—wasn't that proof her thought process was being influenced by him?!
"Heh, I'm just cheering you on," Hayashi grinned, sidling up to her with a fox-borrowing-the-tiger's-might expression. "Listen up! Standing before you is the new headmaster of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, the wielder of the God's Tongue, the pinnacle of culinary arts, and also the cute and tsundere ojou-sa—"
"Hyah—!"
Another elbow strike landed on Hayashi's stomach as Erina, bright red, covered his mouth. "Y-you—what are you even—eek!"
Erina suddenly felt something soft and wet flick against her palm. Combined with Hayashi's teasing expression, she immediately realized what he had just done.
"###"
"You—!"
Erina glared at Hayashi, both embarrassed and furious.
"I was wrong! I was just joking!"
Hayashi hurriedly raised his hands in apology. Licking a girl's palm was indeed somewhat inappropriate, right?—Little did he know, it was precisely because he was joking that Erina got angry!
'This idiot, blockhead, clueless straight guy, titanium-grade moron!'
Erina gnashed her teeth as she stared at Hayashi. Why was it that when chatting with Satoshi Isshiki, Terunori Kuga, and Sōma Yukihira, he could smoothly deliver flirty lines one after another, creating such an ambiguous atmosphere that people might suspect they were gay? But when it came to her...
Am I really that unattractive??
'Damn, why is she looking at me like that...' Hayashi broke out in a cold sweat under Erina's piercing gaze. Guiltily averting his eyes, he racked his brain trying to figure out what he'd done wrong...
Like hell he could figure it out!
Panicking, Hayashi glanced at Hisako beside him and desperately signaled with his eyes—roughly translating his silent plea:
Help me out here, sis, lend a hand!
Hisako twitched her lips. Why did this scene feel so familiar? Oh right, it was her turn to be the savior now, huh?
She sighed helplessly, then leaned close to Erina's ear and whispered, "Miss Erina, think of it this way—if he's this dense, other girls wouldn't stand a chance either... right?"
Hiss!
Erina froze for a moment, then wore a pensive expression, murmuring, "Hmm... that does make sense?"
Realizing this, Erina suddenly didn't feel angry anymore. Instead, an indescribable sense of security washed over her—being clueless was hundreds of times better than being a flirt who charmed every girl in sight and built a harem, right?
'Wow, amazing!'
Seeing how Hisako had calmed Erina down with just a few words, Hayashi shot her an admiring look—who knew Hisako had such skills? Truly impressive!
Hisako: For some reason, I feel like I've been subtly insulted while being praised. So annoying!
"Pfft—"
Nearby, Sabrina and Elesa couldn't hold back their laughter again at Hayashi and Erina's antics.
Elesa: 'This pair is too entertaining! They're not even together yet? If I stick around longer, there'll be even more fun to watch, won't there?'
Sabrina: 'Feels like watching a real-life version of Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. Pure comedy gold—'
...
...
That night, in the luxury suite on the top floor.
As an internationally renowned top model, Elesa naturally stayed in the premium suites on the top floor. So during dinner, she accepted the invitation and dropped by Hayashi's group's room for a visit.
"Miss Elesa, please have a seat—" Hayashi guided Elesa to the dining table and said, "Erina and Hisako are preparing dinner. It'll be ready soon."
"You've been hyping it up all afternoon—" Elesa chuckled as she sat down, feigning seriousness. "If it's not delicious, I'll be very upset, you know?"
"Hahaha, Miss Elesa, you can rest assured!" Hayashi let out a triumphant laugh, waving his hand grandly as he declared, "Erina's cooking skills are absolutely champion-level... no, they're master-level, legendary-tier! Unmatched across the world, leaving other experts in lonely despair!"
Elesa's expression at that moment was somewhat akin to a sweating emoji, as she replied with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "You're getting more and more exaggerated—"
Hayashi snorted and said, "Whether I'm exaggerating or not, we'll see the truth in ten minutes!"
Go! Erina, bite her!
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan