In truth, Terunori Kuga had not become so full of himself that he believed he could defeat Sogo Doma right now. If he had been confident, he would not have said he would challenge Sogo Doma only after defeating Eishi Tsukasa.
Still, lacking confidence was one thing; it did not mean he could accept the fact that, after working so hard for so long, he still could not surpass a dish the other man had brought out ages ago...
"Actually, you should feel lucky..." Yet Sogo Doma was not about to let him off the hook.
"Lucky?"
"That's right. If you lose to Six Flavors in One Mapo Tofu, at least you can say you lost to me. But what if that kid outside steals all your customers without even using Six Flavors in One Mapo Tofu? What would you say then?"
"..." Terunori Kuga froze at first, then his expression changed drastically. "You think I'd lose to that kid outside?"
"Who knows?" Sogo Doma said noncommittally. "He is, after all, Joichiro Saiba's son..."
"Joichiro Saiba?" Terunori Kuga froze again. Then, "Nani!? The Joichiro Saiba you mean isn't the Saiba-sama who was as renowned as Head Chef Dojima, is it?"
"Mm." Sogo Doma nodded. "Why are you so surprised?"
"That's Saiba..." Terunori Kuga began, then immediately paused. "Wait, doesn't that kid outside have the surname Yukihira?"
"I heard he took his mother's surname." Sogo Doma shrugged. "Though I suspect he might not be biological. There could be some melodramatic story behind it..."
"Uh..." Before he could finish, Terunori Kuga broke into a cold sweat. "Boss, don't tell me you approached him just because of this gossip..."
"What do you mean, I approached him?" Sogo Doma felt insulted. "He was the one who stopped me first, okay? As for gossip, I