Chapter Text
Chapter One
The Bad Idea
“Check it out!” Kirishima said, shoving his phone into Katsuki Bakugou’s face one night. The friends had known each other since college and now that Katsuki had finally barely managed to finish culinary school (they almost kicked him out for his very uh, temper), the two were working together to get a restaurant open.
“A place like that needs funds, dumbass,” Bakugou said, Kirishima working with a construction company when he came up with idea.
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I thought of this! We need money, this is the best way to do it!” Kirishima said, showing the phone.
“Sugar or Spice?”
“Yeah, it’s a cooking competition on TV. They pair random chefs together and they have to make amazing dishes each week. They are auditioning chefs for their third season. Your team wins, you each get $10,000 and a chance to work with a celebrity chef!”
Katsuki pushed the phone out of his face, working on dinner for the pair as they planned their restaurant.
“That sounds fucking stupid and a waste of my goddamn time, shithead,” he said, throwing together his meal and presenting it to Kirishima.
“I am telling you man, you would easily win something like this, I’m sure of it.”
Bakugou gritted his teeth.
“What do you mean ‘you’re sure’? Of course I would win something as stupid as a fucking lame cooking contest.”
“But this contest is for partners, I don’t really think you work well with others,” Krishima laughed and Katsuki picked up a knife, slamming it head down into his cutting board.
“I could fucking win a competition like that with my eyes closed! I am FUCKING DOING IT!”
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Kirishima knew that it wasn’t exactly a good idea to provoke Katuski like that, but he knew that it would be the only way he could get the temperamental chef to do anything he wanted. Besides, a little bit of underhandiness got him what he wanted. And so the following weekend the pair went to the UA Studio where the filming for the competition would be taking place.
There was a line of chefs with their tools and chatting to each other outside of the studio, a young woman standing at the door and talking to people before they went inside.
“I’m going to find a place to watch, see you in there,” Kirishima said, leaving his seething friend to the back of the line.
Katsuki got through the line quickly and was handed a piece of paper.
“Good morning!” a pink haired girl said gleefully, handing him the paper. “Please fill out the form completely and to the best of your ability.”
“What the fuck is this for?” he demanded and waved the paper around. The woman made a face.
“Look Gordon Ramsay, swearing is not a great way to get the day started. Now, the paper is to assess your personality so we can make the pairings if you should go on to filming!”
“I am going to fucking win this shit,” he said, pushing past her and going inside.
The waiting room down the hall that he was guided to was filled with chefs of all kinds and were writing out their papers or turning them in to a man with glasses at the other end of the room. Katsuki read through the paper. It had the basics: name, birthday, special dishes, family background, personality traits. All stupid shit he didn’t care about. A true chef was never liked for his personality, he was liked for his ability to win in the kitchen and win on the plate.
He wrote down quick, harsh lettering and went to hand in his paper.
“Uh, e-excuse me,” a feeble voice said and Katsuki stopped, turning to find the source. He knew that voice. He found the small man talking with another chef nearby, “C-Can you uh-”
“DEKU!” Katsuki yelled, kicking the table he was standing near and knocking it over, making the entire room jump in surprise. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
Deku jumped out of his skin, staring at Katsuki and then smiling brightly.
“Kaachan!” he cried, hurrying over, “I am so surprised to see you here! I am here for the competition!”
“You damn nerd, you fucking think you can win against me?” Katsuki asked, kicking another table and getting the chefs all riled up.
“Uh, n-no of c-course not,” Deku said, trying to calm Katsuki down. The two of them had gone through culinary school together. Deku had been one of the weakest chefs in Katsuki’s year and had a hard time keeping up with the rest of the class. Bakugou had easily outclassed every single chef there and surpassed everyone he faced off against. Deku had always thought he was really cool and admired him greatly. Deku never actually thought that Bakugou would even participate in a cooking competition.
“Excuse me, Contestant!” the man with glasses said, coming up to them, “Please refrain from kicking the tables over!”
“You had better drop dead down, Deku, you’re never going to win against me,” Bakugou said, kicking another table just for the sake of the threat and Deku sighed, watching Bakugou walk away.
Whispers from the other chefs followed Bakugou into the hallway and towards the stage where everything was still being set up. There was a small stage with an array of cooking supplies and a large table and three chairs. There were people running around and getting everything ready. Just as Bakugou was thinking about just leaving because the entire competition wasn’t worth his time if Deku was going to be there, he caught a glimsp of his idol.
Toshinori Yagi- the greatest chef in all of the world! The number one himself! He was standing in a doorway, laughing and talking loudly. He was dubbed the “All Might” chef- the greatest of his generation. He was easily the most important and influential person in Bakugou’s entire life. He had picked up a knife at the tender age of five because of that man. He stared at his idol as the pink haired girl from before hurried up to him.
“Mr. All Might, sir, we’re about to start- if you could make your way to the judging table?”
Kirishima couldn’t have known that All Might would be there as a judge- he would have opened with that- Katsuki would have participated in the competition without another thought. He turned around and kicked a light stand before returning to the waiting room where the other chefs were being lined up to go in for their audition.
Bakugou saw Deku chatting with the man in glasses giving orders. He scoffed and fell back behind the crowd so he could go in last. He hated the thought of having to cook anywhere near Deku, but beating him in a cooking competition would be a literal piece of cake. He walked into a large room where everyone was assigned their own station to cook at. Each person was going to present one by one to the judges and the groups were to be widdled down to twelve pairs for the actual show’s competition. There were cameras for the audition process but Bakugou didn’t even notice them. All he could think of was getting the dish he could make out on the table. The initial audition was individual so he didn’t have to worry about an annoying sou chef.
The theme chosen for the audition was a beef dish of any kind. Katsuki got to work instantly. He was finished in only an hour and a half, finding that everyone else was far behind him in progress. He looked at the man in glasses overseeing the room.
“Hey, Four Eyes-” he yelled, making everyone stop what they were doing for a moment and look up. “I’m fucking finished.”
“Please, Contestant, do not swear!” the man said, coming over to his station. His meal was on a plate and ready to go. “How are you so prepared so quickly?” he asked, and Katsuki saw his nametag as “Iida.”
“Well, dipshit- it ain’t that fucking hard to make a fucking burger, so here it is,” he said, and lifted the plate, the cameraman hurrying over to show what he’d made. “Can I go in now so I can go the fuck home?”
Iida looked uncomfortable and a little unsure, but the rules said that once a contestant was finished they could present. A tray was given so the three plates could be taken to the next room and Bakugou looked back at Deku, now back to his work, and glared. He went into the audition room he’d seen earlier. There were more cameras set up and the judges at the tables.
It was All Might in the middle, a man dropping eye drops in his eyes and lazily sighing, and a woman wearing what could only be described as something a dominatrix would envy.
They turned their attention to arrival of Bakugou and looked at Iida.
“Katsuki Bakugou,” he read from the clipboard in hand, a stage hand setting out the plates for each of them. He inidicated with his hands for Bakugou to head to the front of the set, where a camera was trained on him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood there, glaring at the panel.
“So you made a simple burger, I see,” the man with the eye drops said. He faced the plate and Bakugou recognized him finally. He was Aizawa, a talented chef who had mostly been in a lot of small time kitchens. He’d lectured his class before at culinary school, and had been very much a fan of “trial by fire.”
The female judge was something to do with Midnight, Bakugou couldn’t remember, but she was a famous celebrity chef with her own chain of night clubs and had been an avid fan of pairing drinks with food.
“Simple my ass- that’s a fucking amazing burger you dumb bitch. Fucking eat it and see.”
They were surprised by his tone, but took a bite anyway. For the longest second, there was utter silence in the room as they chewed and then Midnight made a noise.
“Oh- ooohhh... ” she said, looking up and her face was turning red. “Exquisite!”
“A fantastic blend of beef and onion,” Aizawa said, looking at Bakugou. “You were finished with this pretty quick.”
“I ground the beef and made the stupid patties by hand, it’s faster than trying to cook it with the onions on the side- so I chopped them up and put them into the meat. Adding spices into a dish is my specialty and I added jalepeno, and green peppers for flare.”
“A simple technique but affective,” All Might said, laughing loudly and enjoying another bite. “And the bun?”
“Glazed with honey and peppered with paprika, adding some more texture to the French bread. The burger gets a fucking good bite from it. And the entire thing is covered in my own version of hot sauce.”
“The meat is incredible and the overall look is incredible. I am surprised that you finished so far ahead of everyone else,” Midnight said, looking at the plate. “Where do you currently work?”
“I don’t have a kitchen. I just got kicked out of the last three I was working in because everyone there were fucking idiots. Not a single brain cell between them.”
The three looked at each other.
“Meaning you don’t get along well with others,” Aizawa said, looking at the plate. “Why did you join this competition. It emphasizes partnership.”
“Ten grand, and the chance to meet All Might- pretty fucking good enough for me. I am going to open the best fucking restaurant in the world, so starting capital is necessary.”
Midnight smiled and looked at her fellow judges.
“Well, I am impressed and ready to say that you pass this challenge with flying colors, young Chef Bakugou.”
“Thanks for nothing, bitch,” he said, though there was no bite behind his words. The others agreed and Iida was asked to show Bakugou to the next room to wait for his paperwork. While they didn’t like his language and his attitude, the trio on the panel were incredibly impressed with how fast he’d worked and how efficient it had been.
“He didn’t waste a single second,” Midnight said, looking at the burger. “And he paid extra close to the details- even making sure that the French bread he chose for the bun was the freshest we had on hand. He may not be the nicest chef in the world, but he is incredibly talented.”
“Words don’t matter in a real competition,” Aizawa said, looking at the plate, his completely empty. “A true chef speaks through his food. The burger was harsh and spicy and difficult to handle, but worth the time and effort that was put into it. He finished fast by skipping unnecessary, flashy techniques. He is going to be one of the strongest competitors this year.”
“Pairing him up with someone is going to be difficult though,” All Might said, looking at the plate. “Iida informed me that he already knows a young chef here and was causing all of that ruckus earlier over it. Pairing him with the right chef to handle his personality is vital to making young Bakugou a true success on such a show as this.”