Voltiana

Tomoko waved to Dachii from the food booth. "Dachii!"

"Tomoko?"

He had on a chef's hat. "Did you come here to help me? Are you my new cooking partners—-?"

Aoki swiftly moved in front of Dachii. "Who is this?"

"Ooh!" Tomoko exclaimed. "A new friend! Hi, I'm Takamoto Tomoko! Great to meet you!"

Aoki sized him up, her hand moving to her blade. "Why does he seem overly friendly? Are you sure this is a human?"

"Yeah, yeah?!" Dachii quickly said. "This is Tomoko. He's an energetic kid. Pretty harmless, if I do say so myself, but he's not…all the way there."

"I can see that," Aoki replied.

Dachii noticed the stove and grill in Tomoko's booth. "What are you doing here, Tomoko? What's going on?"

"It's a cooking contest!" he beamed. "Everyone cooks their own dish, and a judge will try them at the end! The winner gets a special prize!"

"That sounds fun," Dachii remarked, looking at the other booths. "But why are you the only solo cook?"

He laughed. "I asked that girl and her friend with the rainbow hair to help me, but they both immediately declined! She paralyzed me for 3 hours too! How fun!"

Dachii sighed. "That's Nishiyama for ya."

"Nishiyama?" Aoki questioned. "Who is that?"

"Trust me, it's better if you two don't meet."

Marachii approached the booth. "What are you cooking? Maybe we can help!"

Tomoko stepped aside, allowing Marachii and the others to get a good view of what was on the stove. "Burgers and fried rice!"

Everyone stared at his food, which looked both a mix of undercooked and overcooked.

"That doesn't look like edible food!" Saori blurted out.

"It isn't," Aoki confirmed. "It's a MESS."

Tomoko tried a burger. "Nice and fresh! Just like Mom's special!"

"Tomoko…" Dachii said, awkwardly. "How about we join your team and help you make some ACTUAL burgers?"

Tomoko's eyes immediately lit up. "You guys know how to make burgers?"

Dachii and Marachii nodded, and Tomoko immediately grabbed Dachii's shirt and pulled him close. "JOIN ME!"

"Okay, okay!" Dachii exclaimed. "What are we working with?"

He pulled Dachii and Marachii into the booth, and he showed them his ingredients, which were a stack of frozen patties, some lettuce, some tomato, cheese, and a jar of pickles. Bottles of ketchup and mustard were lying nearby, and seasoning as well. There was a bag of fried rice on the ground, with another brown bag next to it.

"The burgers shouldn't be too hard," Marachii noted. "But cooking fried rice is a different story…"

Saori raised her hand. "Ooh! I'll help! Pick me, pick me! Rice is my specialty!"

"Really?" the boys asked.

"They teach little girls how to cook here?" Dachii wondered.

Saori nodded. "My mother taught me! Here, let me show you!"

She tossed all the burnt rice off the stove, then took the fresh bag from below the counter and started dumping it out, humming as it started to cook on the stove. She grabbed a spatula and began to stir it before adding some soy sauce to it.

"Woah," Dachii noticed. "She knows what she's doing."

"That's great!" Marachii replied. "Now we need to get to work on these burgers, ASAP."

Aoki stepped back. "Good luck."

"You're not helping?" Dachii asked.

"No. If it's not fresh meat caught from outside, fish pulled from the depths of the ocean, or roadkill snatched off the side of a dusty street, I'm not too big on cooking."

Dachii shook his head. "Fine. Let's do this."

He took some patties and laid

them on the grill, watching them sizzle. Once they had cooked for a bit, he put the cheese on next.

Marachii took another spatula and flipped the burgers over, grabbing the seasoning and sprinkling some on. Tomoko eagerly watched as the food around him was prepared.

"It smells DELICIOUS! HAHA!"

"How much time do we have left?" Marachii asked. "I think these burgers should only take about 10 more minutes."

"We've got 2 minutes left!" Tomoko announced.

"TWO MINUTES?"

Tomoko nodded. "It took me 48 minutes to prepare that first batch, and the time we get in total is 60 minutes! Haha!"

Dachii groaned. "Saori, how are you doing with the rice?"

She continued humming, eating part of the rice as she continued to cook it. "Saori!"

"Oops, sorry! I couldn't resist!"

"Is it done?" Dachii asked.

Saori shook her head, lifting the brown bag up from below. "It needs an egg and some veggies!"

"Crap," Dachii moaned. "Tomoko, is it possible they'll give us a little more time?"

"No clue!" he responded.

"We're the last booth," Marachii pointed out. "Maybe if we work quickly, we can get all the food done before the judges reach us!"

"Great idea!" Dachii said. "Everyone, speed up!"

Aoki watched as they hurried to cook, laughing to herself. "Children."

A whistle was heard, along with a commanding voice. "Everyone STOP! The judging will now commence!"

"Damn it," Dachii muttered. "They're starting."

A male judge in a tuxedo walked up to the booths, with a crowd gathered behind him. One by one, he analyzed the dishes prepared for him. "Greetings. Call me Judge Hajime Heshikiri. I'll be eating your food today!"

He checked out the first booth, which had a dish waiting for him on a plate.

"Sushi burritos?" Hajime asked. "How interesting."

He grabbed one and took a bite, and he immediately gasped.

"AMAZING!"

He quickly ate the rest of the burritos, burping loudly when he was done. "Excuse me. Great dish!"

He then walked down to the next booth. "Ramen! Great!"

Hajime took the bowl and slurped it all down quickly, wiping his mouth as soon as he finished. "Ahh…it warms my tongue."

He continued further down the booths, and Dachii kept a close eye on him. "Guys, hurry! He's coming!"

Hajime tried more and more dishes, and he finally got to Tomoko's booth, where everyone and everything was out of place.

"Hello. Do you guys have a dish?"

"Uhh…" Dachii stammered. "Something like that."

He clasped his hands together. "Well, let's see it, shall we?"

Hajime watched as Dachii and the other scrambled to get their dish prepared while Aoki laughed. Eventually, they managed to get a burger and some rice on a plate.

"We present to you…" Marachii announced. "A burger and fried rice combo!"

Hajime and the crowd silently stared at them.

"What a…surprising decision," Hajime remarked.

He picked up the plate, studying it before sighing. "Let's give it a shot!"

He took the burger and took a single bite out of it. When he did, his mind was completely blown.

"BY THE GODS…"

Hajime quickly devoured the rest of the burger, and then he used a fork to scoop the rice into his mouth. Once he was done, he dropped his fork and collapsed over the table in front of the booth.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting you kids to pull off such a basic meal well, but THIS? This is INCREDIBLE!"

Dachii handed him another burger, and he immediately scarfed it down without hesitation.

"So, we win?" Dachii asked.

Hajime shook his head. "Not even close! But you guys clearly won 2nd place!"

"What?" Dachii groaned. "Then why'd you eat TWO of our burgers?"

He chuckled. "Heh. Anyway, let me announce the winner of this food contest!"

Everyone eagerly anticipated as he went to stand in front of all the booths, and with a drumroll, he cleared his throat.

"The winner is…"

Then he looked behind him. "Ms. Kimura!"

Dachii's entire group gasped as a familiar face gracefully walked toward Hajime, two cups in her hand.

"Here you go," she said.

Hajime took them, drinking out of one, which had a creamy, vanilla-looking liquid inside. "Ahh…how tasty!"

"NISHIYAMA?" Dachii blurted out. "Tomoko, you said she wasn't participating!"

"That's what she told me, haha!" he replied.

"I see now."

Hajime held the cups up. "Nishiyama's vanilla milkshakes take the win! Congrats, Nishiyama!"

She whispered in his ear. "NISHI."

"Right, sorry! Congrats, Nishi!"

The crowd nervously clapped and cheered as Hajime held up her arm. Dachii just slapped his forehead. "Dude…we lost to milkshakes."

"Well, they are delicious," Marachii remarked.

"What's a milkshake?" Saori asked.

"Good question," Dachii noted. "How does she know what one is?"

"Alright, cooks," Hajime announced. "This was fun, but now it's time to run!"

As soon as he prepared to leave, Nishiyama grabbed him by the ear. "What about that reward you promised?"

"I'll get it, Ms. Kimura! Don't you worry!"

He scurried off, and the rest of the crowd quickly dispersed as well, along with the other cooks. Dachii and the others exited the booth, and Aoki gave them a slow clap.

"Nice job," she laughed. "You tried your best."

She gave Dachii a pat on the back, but he just stared at her. "Not funny…"

"Well, well, well…if it isn't my favorite human?"

Dachii turned around and found himself wrapped in a tight hug. "Dachii! Did you miss me? I know you did!"

"Hi again, Nishi. Nice to see you," he responded.

Everyone else watched on, and eventually, Nishiyama stepped away. Aoki pointed a finger right at Nishiyama's face. "Who's that?"

Nishiyama's face turned red, and she had a look of shock on her face. "You don't know who I am? You don't know the great Nishiyama Kimura?"

Aoki just gave her a confused look. "Nope."

"Wha—-? How DARE you? I am a CELEBRITY!"

Aoki folded her arms, turning away. "Blah-blah-blah. Go away."

Nishiyama's face began to bulge, and Dachii had to hold her back from charging at Aoki. "You stupid little—-!"

She started unleashing a slew of words, making Marachii cover Saori's ears. Aoki simply put one hand on her blade.

"Well then."

Dachii frantically looked between them, gently pulling Nishiyama away. "Nishi, we should go. You don't want this fight, TRUST ME."

"Hmph, she's messy as hell! Who's she fooling?"

Dachii guided her away, and the rest followed. Aoki strayed close behind, casually laughing to herself.

"Nice job on the win," Dachii remarked. "You didn't bribe or threaten the judge, right?"

"Uhh…" she stammered. "I have someone for you to meet! Follow me!"

She hurried down a few more blocks, leaving Dachii and the rest to keep up. Once they caught up to her, they found a wide street filled with animals, each of whom was next to a Voltian handler in a Squad S-3 uniform.

"Ooh! " Saori exclaimed. "Cute pets!"

"That's right!" Nishiyama agreed. "Aren't they beautiful? I didn't know humans could have such good taste in companions. No offense, Dachii."

Dachii just shook his head.

"Now, where is she…there!" Nishiyama pointed to a rainbow-haired girl in the crowd, who was petting a horse. "There she is!"

She waved the girl over, and she walked up, horse still following her. "Guys, this is my best friend, Mina! Mina, say hello!"

Before Mina could speak, the group started gossiping.

"She's cute…" Dachii muttered.

"Haven't we seen her before?" Marachii recalled. "I'm sure she was on Umego with us, or am I just crazy?"

"Are we talking about the girl or the horse?" Saori asked.

"AHEM," Mina interrupted. "It's great to meet you guys, well, officially." She looked at them one by one. "You! You're Dachii! You must be…Marachii! And you're that girl I've heard about, the kidnapped girl from the Festival! Nakamura's daughter!"

Saori awkwardly looked away.

"You two aren't sisters?" Dachii asked.

Mina, Nishiyama, and Saori all gasped. Aoki almost fell over, laughing.

"Funny, I thought that too," Marachii admitted.

"The hair! It's because of the rainbow hair, isn't it?" Tomoko exclaimed. "Haha!"

"And the eyes," Dachii added.

Mina furiously waved her hands. "No, no, no! We are NOT related! At least, not to my knowledge. But that's besides the point! And who's this?"

She motioned over to Aoki, who was sticking out like a sore thumb. "What."

"That's Aoki," Dachii introduced. "She is, sadly, our Vice-General."

"What was that?" Aoki lifted an eyebrow.

"Nothing! Our lovely Vice-General that we all love and appreciate!"

"That's better."

Nishiyama scoffed. "She's rude, that's what she is. Nothing like Mashimo."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Regardless, Dachii, I have something to show you and your friends. Sir Morino is allowing us to run an adoption center! We get to store all these cool pets in these facilities! And we can train them, breed them, and all kinds of cool stuff!"

"That sounds fun," Dachii said.

"I know!" Mina stated. "It's awesome!"

Nishiyama tugged on Dachii's arm. "Should we visit the horses first? Or the kittens? Or the dogs? How about the birds?"

Aoki pointed her blade at the horse. "Let's eat 'em all."

Mina and Nishiyama immediately jumped in front of the horse and Aoki's blade.

"Hey, stop!" Mina cried out.

"Are you INSANE?" Nishiyama yelled. "These animals are NOT food!"

"Uh, where do you think meat comes from, dimwit."

"UGH!"

She and Mina led Dachii away, and Marachii and Saori followed him.

"Haha! No one seems to care about me!" Tomoko acknowledged.

"I can see why," Aoki replied. "Come, where's the juicy prey in this little exhibit? I'm starving."

Tomoko pointed her down to a group of lions, who were all lying next to each other. As soon as Aoki got close she raised her blade.

"Mmmm…you all look tender and fresh. I'll need one of you, please, and thanks."

But as she brought it down, a glass arm met her, and she looked up to find a stern face staring her down. "Step back."

She took a few steps away, sizing the figure up.

"Well, well, well," Aoki growled. "Look who it is! I'm surprised you finally showed your face, PRINCE Atomu."

"If only you knew. Welcome home, Aoki Amasani."

—-