At Totsuki Culinary Academy, the famous Polar Star Dorm is home to genius and eccentric chefs as always. One day, Soma Yukihira is given a shock by the dorm matron, Fumio Daimido. A master of tea ceremony with a terrifying temper when angered, she declares, 'Room inspections in one week! If your room is dirty, a ten-book report without question!' Soma thinks he's safe, until Satoshi Isshiki peeks into his room and says, 'I can't see your floor.' Panicking, Soma tries to clean up but discovers a
Polar Star Dorm: Today is Peaceful… Right?! - The Secret of the Pin and the Forbidden Documents
Thursday after school.
Souma Yukihira sat on the floor of his room, staring intently at a broken whisk.
"Can I fix it…?"
He pressed the bent wires with his fingers, but they wouldn't budge.
Beside him, a mountain of similarly broken cooking tools.
A frying pan, a knife, a grater.
All of them had been pushed onto him by upperclassmen and classmates, with a "Souma'll figure something out."
(Throwing them away would be easy, but…)
Tools hold memories.
Even when they're unusable, it's hard to just toss them.
But the deadline for the cleaning inspection was tomorrow.
The image of Fumio Oomido's demonic face flashed through his mind, and Souma shook his head.
"Anyway, I've just gotta do it."
From outside the window, the faint shouts of sports clubs could be heard.
Even within the vast grounds of Tootsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy, Polar Star Dorm was a quiet place.
A sixty-eight-year-old, two-story wooden building.
Now, fewer than ten residents cooked as they pleased, made noise, and occasionally sparked off in *shokugeki*.
—*Knock, knock.*
A small tapping sound.
"…?"
He looked toward the door.
Before he could answer, it quietly slid open.
"Um… Yukihira-kun, are you here…?"
The face that peeked in was Megumi Tadokoro.
Her shoulder-length, bluish-black hair shone softly in the hallway light streaming through the open door.
Her calm, dark eyes were slightly moist with nervousness.
"Oh, Tadokoro."
"It looks like you're not done cleaning yet… so I thought I'd come help…"
Megumi fidgeted with the hem of her uniform as she looked around the room.
Cardboard boxes were still scattered across the floor.
The pile of broken cooking tools hadn't shrunk at all.
"But I was worried someone might see me and it'd be embarrassing… so I came secretly."
"You're overthinking it. Come on in."
Souma laughed and waved her in.
After a moment's hesitation, Megumi quietly stepped into the room.
"Okay then… excuse me."
Megumi crouched down and opened a nearby cardboard box.
A bundle of dried wakame seaweed came out.
"Oh, this is still usable. It has a proper desiccant pack inside."
"Seriously? Someone pushed that on me, but if it's still good, I'll keep it."
"Yes. And this jar is… ah, the label's peeled off."
Megumi peered at the bottom of the jar.
Her dark eyes narrowed seriously.
—That's when it happened.
The moment Megumi reached for the pile of broken whisks, a clatter rang out.
"Eep!?"
Something had fallen to the floor.
A small, floral-patterned hairpin.
Megumi saw it and froze.
"Th-this is…"
She picked it up with her fingers.
A silver hairpin shaped like a cherry blossom petal.
"Huh, is that yours, Tadokoro?"
"I-it's mine…! I lost it three months ago. I even put a notice on the dorm bulletin board."
Megumi's voice was trembling.
Her face was growing redder and redder.
"Huh, is that so. Well, good thing you found it."
Souma, looking completely unbothered, grinned.
"G-good thing isn't the point…! Why was it in your room, Yukihira-kun…!?"
"Huh?"
Souma tilted his head.
His amber eyes blinked blankly.
"I-I mean… if this is here… that means I've been to this room before, to ask for cooking advice…"
Megumi stopped mid-sentence and covered her mouth.
—*BANG!*
Suddenly, the room's door flew open with force.
"Hey! Are you starting something again!?"
Her waist-length blonde hair swaying, Erina Nakiri burst into the room.
Her reddish-purple eyes glinted sharply with anger.
A white blouse and the Tootsuki uniform skirt.
On the ring finger of her left hand, the Nakiri family ring sparkled.
"Ah… Nakiri-san."
Megumi's face went pale.
Erina scanned the room and spotted Megumi.
"…Tadokoro-san? Why are you here?"
"W-well… I thought I'd help with the cleaning…"
"Alone?"
Erina's gaze fell to the hairpin in Megumi's hand.
"Well, things are lively again, I see."
Turning around, there stood Satoshi Isshiki in his loincloth, wearing his usual smile.
On his slender frame today was a blue loincloth.
His wet brown hair clung to his forehead.
"Isshiki-senpai! I've told you countless times to put on some clothes!"
"Hmm? But this is what I'm most comfortable in."
Isshiki entered the room with a nonchalant look.
Then, seeing the hairpin in Megumi's hand, he smirked.
"Oh? Isn't that Tadokoro-san's? I remember seeing the notice on the bulletin board about losing it three months ago. But why is it in Souma-kun's room?"
"~~~~~~!!"
Megumi turned bright red and hung her head.
Her fingertips gripped the hem of her uniform tightly.
"Could it be you've been secretly coming to Souma-kun's room?"
"N-no! I just came a little while ago, for cooking advice…! That's all! Really, that's all it was…!"
Megumi desperately tried to explain, but her stage fright kept the words from coming out right.
"Hmm. Cooking advice, is it."
Erina swept her hair back and stared at Megumi with cold eyes.
"Tadokoro coming to help was a lifesaver. The cleaning wasn't going so well."
Souma grinned at her innocently.
In that instant, tears welled up in Megumi's eyes.
"I-I'm going home after all…!!"
Megumi spun around and tried to dash out of the room.
—*Thud.*
Isshiki stepped on something at his feet.
"…Hm?"
Isshiki moved his foot.
On the floor was a tightly sealed brown envelope.
"What's this?"
Isshiki casually picked up the envelope.
He turned it over.
Seeing the words written there, Isshiki's hand stopped.
*'Elite Ten Council — Next Seat Restructuring — Meeting Minutes (Copy)'*
—The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant.
"…What is that."
The anger had vanished from Erina's voice.
In its place was a tense wariness.
Isshiki silently opened the envelope.
He pulled out several sheets of paper.
"…This is."
The usual smile disappeared from Isshiki's face.
He flipped through the documents with narrowed eyes.
One page, two pages—.
"Isshiki-senpai… what does it say?"
Erina approached and peered at the documents.
"—!?"
Erina's face went pale.
The elegant poise she had when sipping tea with her pinky raised was nowhere to be seen.
With a trembling hand, she pointed at a section of the document.
"The nomination slot for the First Seat… and my name is…"
"Yeah. That's not all. For the Second Seat and below, it outlines a plan to decide them by nomination, not through the usual *shokugeki*. This is—"
Isshiki closed the document.
"A coup d'état plan."
"Coo day tar?"
Souma tilted his head.
"Simply put, it means ignoring the academy's rules and replacing the Elite Ten as they see fit. If this is executed, the *shokugeki* system will become a shell. Everything will be decided by power, not skill."
"…Hey, wait a sec. Why is something that important in my room?"
Souma scratched his head vigorously.
Silence fell.
Erina looked up.
Her reddish-purple eyes stared straight at Souma.
"…You, don't tell me."
"N-no! I don't know anything! This is the first time I've ever seen this thing!"
"But it came out of your room. That is a fact."
"Even so—"
"Both of you, calm down."
Isshiki's voice was different than usual.
Low, and cold.
"I need you all to absolutely not tell anyone that you've seen this document."
Isshiki looked at Souma, Erina, and Megumi in turn.
"…That goes for you too, Tadokoro-san. Since you've seen it, you're in the same boat."
Megumi stood frozen in front of the door, holding back tears.
"I-I… don't understand anything…!"
"That's fine. You don't need to understand."
Isshiki spoke to Megumi in a slightly gentler voice.
Erina gripped the document tightly.
"…Who is it. Who brought this here."
"I don't know. But the fact that it was deliberately hidden in Souma-kun's room means—"
Isshiki looked around the room.
Half-sorted cardboard boxes. Broken cooking tools. Opened cans.
"While we're making a racket in here, something is moving. Within this academy."
Isshiki tucked the envelope into the waist cord of his loincloth.
"For now, I'll hold onto this. That's fine, right, Souma-kun?"
"…Yeah."
Souma nodded.
But his mind was in chaos.
(Why in my room—)
Erina was still staring at the document, her face pale.
"…The Elite Ten… is shaking…"
Erina's voice trembled.
"It's alright. It hasn't been executed yet. The fact that this document surfaced might actually be an opportunity."
"An opportunity?"
"We can investigate who's planning this coup. The evidence is right here."
Isshiki tapped the document lightly.
"But that will take time."
He looked at the clock.
It was already past five in the evening.
Tomorrow was the final day for the cleaning inspection.
The room was still a mess.
The broken cooking tools, the cardboard boxes, none of it was tidied up.
"…Guess cleaning's off the table now."
No one could answer Souma's words.
Megumi was still trembling in front of the door.
She clutched the floral hairpin to her chest.
Erina had her arms crossed, staring at the floor.
Only Isshiki had regained his usual smile.
"Well, but tomorrow is tomorrow. It's late now, so let's all rest."
"You, in this situation, how can you…"
"No point in panicking. Besides, times like this call for a good meal. Shall I make something?"
"In just your loincloth?"
Souma couldn't help but retort.
Isshiki smiled cheerfully.
"Of course. It'll be a naked loincloth dinner, rather than a naked apron one."
"No one asked for that!!"
Erina shouted.
Megumi let out a small giggle.
"…*fufu*"
With her eyes still wet from tears, Megumi smiled just a little.
"Ah… sorry. All that tension just started feeling silly."
"When you can laugh, laughing's the best thing."
Souma said, scratching his head vigorously.
"…You people really can't read the mood."
Erina sighed, but the corners of her mouth relaxed slightly.
"But man, this has gotten crazy."
Souma stared toward the back of the room.
The still-unpacked cardboard boxes. The mountain of broken cooking tools.
And the envelope hiding the Elite Ten's secret.
"Things are getting interesting."
He muttered quietly.
Outside the window, the forest of Tootsuki Academy stretched out.
Beyond that forest lay the grand Nakiri family mansion.
And within that mansion—no one had yet realized that a certain "experiment-loving" girl was already beginning to plan her next move.
Thursday night quietly deepened.
One day left until the cleaning deadline.
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