No room for Reconciliation

I once heard of a study regarding the attitudes of companies and businesses in hiring people. Conducted from year 2000 until its untimely cessation in 2028 due to the war, it highlights several things that most employers find in prospective workers and how much potential they expect from said individuals.

There are many things in the study that was recorded such as the usual past work experiences, the educational attainment and which institutions one used to attend at, personal skillset and everyday attitude and controversially, even gender and political alignment.

Although the research study gave a vague interpretation of these findings by stating that all of this was typical across the board, it nevertheless showed that there do are biases when it comes to what the interviewers and HR staff choose to let into the company they are serving at. After all, one only needs to look into the composition of the staff between the common workers and the middle & executive managerial staff of some well-known companies to see this. Down in the chart, it is a mix of people, while those in higher positions are more niched in terms of personal beliefs and controversially again, in gender and political alignment.

I only got into this inward ranting all because of the words that I heard during my interview with my former classmates.

"Get lost! We don't need you here!"

"Yeah! We finally got some peace when you were gone! You think we want you here again after we were rid of you?!"

"Get out! Leave! Now!!!"

The familiar idiom of "beggars can't be choosers" surely can be used at this scenario… because it is clear to me due to their highly fashionable waitress and waiter uniforms and the way everyone is focused on the furnishings and decorations that no one has batted an eye on the kitchen-side of things yet.

"Everyone… please calm down first."

"Sayaka-chan! You can't be thinking of letting this guy back here!"

"Yeah! He's a pest to all of us! You better not let him in here again!"

Meanwhile, I was facing the leader of this combined section of students. She used to carry a dumbfounded expression when she first saw me and after returning to her senses, looked at me neutrally. She asked for her groupmates' cooperation and wished to listen to me without the jeering and insults of the others.

"Rai-san… or would it be Chronia-san, now?"

"Anything that is related to my name is alright. I've been called a lot of things just today, you know."

"Rai-san…"

There was a time when I saw Amakano Sayaka as someone passable when it comes to being a person that I can interact with in school. But after she visited my home and childishly insisted for me to go back with no explanation about why at all other than the vague "I don't want to lose an acquaintance" explanation, I started to dislike even seeing her again.

The main reason for which is because she shrouded her intention to convince me to go back to school as a genuine friendly gesture when all of it is just for the sake of her forming an ideal high school experience for herself. One where everyone is friendly towards her, and no one is being left out.

I hate that kind of thinking. I hate that kind of manipulative action for the sake of a stupidly childish dream. She may not have started out as someone who grieved me actively through harassment and indifference, but after that one and only time when she showed her real self to me, I already knew that I can't afford to stay on her sight and reach anymore.

That's why during this mission, I will do my best to not fraternize with anyone of these jerks… and I will make sure that after we either resolved the case here or my contract as their chef is over, I will not be reached by her ever again.

Back to the present, one of the male students who has thrown some insults towards me back then grabbed my resume from the table where I placed it.

"Why are you here anyway? We are looking for a chef. Not a dropout who thought that he can stand on his own while staying in this country and now has to crawl back to us to stay alive."

"Oh, is that so? Are you saying all of that without even checking the contents of my resume?"

"What is there to see here anyway, you plebian? What? You think working for a streetside yakitori stall or summer festival Takoyaki stand counts as being a chef? Even if this is just a practical exam for our culinary and hospitality course, it would be an insult to us to have you here."

"Wahahahaha!"

"Man! Ko-chan, is on fire with his words today."

While his cronies and the other students laughed, I kept my cool and simply crossed my arms confidently while showing a smug expression, showing them that I am not even being moved with his words.

"Tch! I know this is almost empty, but I'll indulge you just for now, you plebian… what…?"

"I was just bored at home and wanted to do something productive after I left this place… I didn't know that you guys are so desperate to find someone who can cook for you and you're my clients given by that contractual company."

"What's up, Ko-chan? Why are you so frozen after opening his… wait, what the heck?!"

"Now, now… Who is it really who is being insulted here? Is it you guys, or is it me?"

I knew from the moment I plopped that folder on the table that it is a deal that no reasonable person would ever decline. After all, even if one hasn't tried out or heard much about the places written down on my "job experiences" tab, their name is enough to show that I had more than enough credentials under my belt than anyone who can enter their doors for the same position.

"This is lies! Utter lies! How can someone like you have job experience in The Forester bistro and Le Savoya restaurant?! Those two are places with Michelin stars!"

"I entered into a 1-year internship with both, and they became the test areas for my Culinary arts minor course."

"HAAH?! You think we can actually believe that kind of absurd lies?!"

"Then why don't you call them?"

"What?"

"If you're going to pull off this kind of "I will never believe anything that came from your mouth" rhetoric, then be like a responsible employer and check out if your prospective employee isn't lying about his resume."

"Why, you-?!"

"Ko-kun! Enough!"

"Sayaka-chan… Tch!"

"Their clerks and their numbers are enumerated below the name of their respective establishments. Don't worry about the language barrier, if they haven't retired yet, both of those places have people that can understand and speak Japanese."

"You better get ready to be beat up if your story doesn't check out! You've wasted our time so much if this is just a farce!"

"…"

As Kotaro and his cronies turned around to call the places I worked at, I returned my gaze to Sayaka who is still uneasy with the fact that I am here to work for them.

"What are you staring at me for? Is something wrong?"

"N-No… It's just that…"

"Yes?"

"I didn't expect you to ever go back here and see us again. I'm just… glad that you're back."

"…What made you think that I feel the same way?"

"-?!"

"I'm here to work. You are my clients, and I am your contractual employee. I don't intend to try and fraternize with any of you after everything that happened. So, get off your dream boat and stop fantasizing about me warming up to any of these jerks again while I am here."

"R-Rai-san… don't speak like that! No one here-"

"Sometimes, I don't know if you are so dense that you can't see how much these guys loathe me so."

"-!"

I would've continued to berate her about this if not for Kotaro dropping his phone down while his shoulder shook lightly.

"This is impossible… This can't be real!"

"…I assume they've validated my claims… So, answer my question now. Who is really being insulted right here?"

"You shut up!"

"…"

"So, what if you are some kind of big shot cook?! We are still the ones who'll decide whether to take you in or not! Don't act so high and mighty right now!"

"Sure. Go on and discuss it. I'll be waiting here."

With my nonchalant reply to his enraged words, Kotaro snickered to my direction and turned around to talk about this with Sayaka and the others. For me though, I just sat there with little to no care about what their decision would be. I already have a contingency plan for it anyway if I don't get accepted here which is the favor that I asked to the twin pâtissier and baker Hasegawa chefs.

"We can't let this chance pass up. He's got good credentials and experience since he got into a Michelin star place before… Even if I myself don't like him, I don't think a chance like this would ever come again."

"Are you mad?! That's the guy who's never been in good terms with any of us! Do you think he'll really work properly with us?!"

"He's a professional, Kotaro. Don't bring him down to your level as someone who messes up things because he doesn't like to work with other people."

"What did you say-?!"

"Ko-kun! Miya-chan! Enough!"

"Kh! This is her fault, Sayaka-chan… Why is she defending that jerk?"

"I wasn't defending him, stupid. I hate him just as much as any of you. I'm just saying that his experience and knowledge are far too valuable for any of us to just snub him."

"Then let's just hire another one or better yet, do it ourselves. This ain't a competition anyway. So why do we have to give it our all?"

"Because this is an exam… If the proctors notice that we are slacking off and not giving out service and products that are worthy of their standards, we're all going to flop this one and suffer majorly in our grading cards."

"Tch! So, in the end, we really have to let him in?"

"Just until the end of the examination period. Three days isn't much. Endure it and forget he was even here after it."

"Alright, alright... geez… my skin really crawls because of that guy. I can't stand being around the same place as him."

"You better stop muttering those things soon. Whether you like it or not, he will be here for three days, and you will be working with him."

"I know, I know. Stop nagging me already."

"Anyways, let's tell him the details and make him sign the contract now, Saya-chan."

"Ah! Yes, let's do just that."

After I heard using my Astra-energy enhanced hearing that they made the decision of letting me in, I took something from the suitcase I brought with me and checked it for one last time while they are looking for the work contract given by Yusa-san from our fake contractual company.

"…This would be enough for the first day. Shopping for it would be easy enough with just these."

"Chronia-san. We've decided to accept you here. This is the contract given by the company that acted as the intermediary between us. We had Sayaka-chan stand in as the representative for our combined classes and your official employer."

"Good. That's better than signing it as an association. This would simplify things."

I quickly read the contents of the work contract before signing and stamping it, making sure that if there is even just one hint of scummy treatment on me, I can immediately cancel this thing out.

I might be a man of patience when it really counts, but when it comes to unreasonable things that just become big issues because someone wanted to act spoiled or be some kind of jerk to get their way on things, my patience leaks out quicker than a balloon that was let go without being tied.

"Now, what should be our first course of action, Chronia-san?"

"We should-"

Before I can tell Sayaka about shopping for ingredients, some of our classmates and Mana's classmates answered her and cut me off, so I decided to just look around the "kitchen" area while they are arguing amongst themselves.

"Of course, it would be the decoration. We can't have our customers being turned off with the depressing ambiance of this old school building. Help out here!"

"No! Our appearances should be given more consideration! Since we are going to be tested in fine dining, we can't look like a substandard service staff or regular students! We need more hands on the sewing machines!"

"Wrong! Both of you are wrong! We need give to our advertisements more manpower! What are your decorations and uniforms for if only a small number of people would come to our place?"

If I was exasperated before when I never seen a stove or cooking equipment in here after I entered, I am now just straight up disappointed that any mention about that never even came across their minds.

"I have a question for all of you…"

"What?"

"Are you running a fashion show, or a restaurant?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because none of you seem to have thought about bringing a stove or any cooking utensil here. All of you are busy with tying ribbons to the ceiling and laying down carpets, sewing those tacky butler and maid uniforms or making those wacky posters for the bulletin board and internet forums rather than thinking about what would happen when the start of the festival comes."

"Stove, pots and pans? What are you talking about? They should be there in the back of the room."

"I wouldn't be complaining like this if that is so. There is nothing here but boxes of art materials and rolls of cloth and garter belts, hence, why I asked if you are running a fashion show rather than a restaurant."

"Wait… there really isn't any in here, Miya-san."

"What?!"

They themselves went to check and sure enough the things they expected to be there are nowhere to be found. The stove wasn't there, there are no pots or pans, the other tools like spatulas and ladles are the same story and worst of all, it seems like there has never been any cohesion amongst these child-brained former classmates of mine.

"I remember telling one of you guys to mind the kitchen area. Why has there been no progress back here at all?"

"B-But we were minding everyone's costumes! We thought some other group did it like the decorations team!"

"W-Well we're the same! We were busy with making the furnishings for the tables and chairs. We didn't have time to check and remind someone to handle that unlike these tardy guys in the poster-making group!"

"Don't point your fingers to us! We had to talk to the teachers and compete with the other sections to secure a spot in the bulletin board which is only the tip of our main work which is to design the advertisement and pass it off to the printers! If anything, we were the busiest here!"

As these three main groups and a lot more smaller groups began to shout complaints and pass off the hot potato topic which is the fact that the main and most important part of this exam to them is still missing, I noticed that both Miyamoto and Amakano was just straight up shocked with this kind of sudden change in the previously peaceful group of students.

"This is what happens when you guys just let them do what they want to do. In the end, only the most favored things get done and the tiresome and boring yet very important things get left out."

"I can already see that with this kind of chaos among them… I am pissed that we didn't notice this until it was this late."

"W-What should we do, Chronia-san? Can this still be done when the start of the festival is only days away?"

"Beats me… I went here to cook. Not be the one to think about how I am supposed to cook."

"Don't be so nonchalant about all of this, Chronia! Our grades for this quarter hangs in the balance with this!"

"M-Miya-chan! Calm down a little!"

Miyamoto's open palm could've reached for me if not for Sayaka holding her back away from me. Still, their desperation to have a good grade doesn't convince me to help them at all since this is a mistake on their part.

"…Haah. I'll go to someone I know who might have a spare stove and kitchen tools. That's the only thing I can help out with. In the meantime, I want you guys to shop around this many ingredients by tomorrow morning."

"A list? Wait… why are there so many here?!"

"Yeah! 10 kilograms of pork, beef and chicken and this many vegetables are too much!"

"Too much? That's actually just an initial stock. If my calculations are right, I may end up prepping twice or thrice the amount of those in the first day alone, so you need to buy more after that one."

"F-First day?!"

"Yeah. Have you forgotten one of the reasons why our cultural fest is being held in late spring?"

"T-To avoid the abnormal weather patterns in late autumn and… wait…"

"Seems like Sayaka got it… It's because the administrators are aiming to use the international family day non-working holiday this week as the first day of the festival. Hence, I expect about a hundred or so customers per hour at the opening day alone."

"Family day, huh? I can kind of guess why you would need this many ingredients… but still, why tomorrow? Wouldn't it be best to buy them just hours before they are to be cooked and served?"

"Those meats need to be marinated and prepared in advance. While those vegetables have to be pickled or processed into a form that I will need later."

I explained to Miyamoto and Sayaka some of the dishes I would be cooking and why I need those here as soon as possible. After a few minutes, it seemed like they became convinced about this sudden expense except for one last concern.

"Still, this is a huge gamble… even if we will be receiving a lot of customers in the first day because of the holiday, that is still very much up in the air. We may end up having too much food in stock that we won't be able to reimburse the expense."

"Don't worry, I have made arrangements with someone to tell the patrons of the place I was working at before that I will be cooking for you guys in here. With that place now closed down and them missing our cooking, there is little to no reason to fear about there no one turning up to our place."

"Hmm… It still bothers me."

"I think it's good enough, Miya-chan."

"Sayaka-chan…"

"If Chronia-san says that it can be done, there will surely be a way around it. With that, I trust him to handle things for us."

"I didn't guarantee anything. What I said is that it would be dumb to think that we would absolutely fail when none of you seem to know the true odds in this."

After that, I excused myself back to my car which I drove back to my house in Sunogahara-cho. There, I cleaned and packaged my induction stove properly and did the same for my own pots, pans and utensils. In the end, the entire trunk of the car and even the rear passenger seat was filled with them.

"Been a while since I got back here… seems like the malicious Astra energy left from that bastard's jailbreak attempt is still around the air."

If not for a Diminisher bracelet, I would've suffered from auto-aspir syndrome (a condition where an external Astra energy mass attempts to dominate one's innate Astra energy, causing slight nausea in mild cases and a comatose state in more serious cases) and end up dying here. This shows that the mess he made in here was something that even the combined efforts of the S.S.S and the Sumeragi group can't handle quickly.

I heard from the S.S.S reports that some of my neighbors went into coma after what he did here. I didn't really socialize much with the people here, given that some of them are very busy with minding their own lives or are uneasy with a foreigner like me, but hearing what happened to them bothered me a little.

"Anyways… I just wish these would suffice for a while until the Hasegawa twins gets back to Japan with the other tools. It's still funny how Madame Alicia gave all of this to us so we can hide it like a valuable treasure."

In a matter of half an hour, I got what I needed from my house loaded to my car and went back to the school to properly arrange it in the kitchen area of the spacious room given to my former classmates/current employers.

"That was your fault! And another thing, who on earth told you to go through that roundabout and tiresome method anyway?!"

"What?! How dare you insult our sewing methods! If we half-assed any of this, even a little stretch would break your uniforms, you know?!"

Even after that half hour where I am gone, the quarrels of these stooges are still going strong. Thankfully, that allowed me to go under their radars and get into the kitchen where I made quick work of the arrangement of things and while waiting for Miyamoto and Sayaka who is still shopping, decided to sharpen my knives that hasn't been used for a while.

"I'm right after all… You really bring nothing to us other than problems and quarrels."

"…"

"Won't you even try to be just a bit apologetic to us? I mean, those three groups were doing their own things happily and in peace until you came here and shook things up."

"So, I should apologize to them for telling them about their failure to not just help out but also not be able to even mention that no one hasn't done anything in the kitchen yet?"

"Exactly!"

"Are you stupid?"

"HAAAH?!"

"Why should the guy who is being inconvenienced by their lack of initiative and action be the one who has to apologize for telling them off about it?"

I never really thought highly about Kotaro's intelligence, but it sure sounds very loaded for him to be the one to demand an apology for something that I ended up solving because the others never moved on from bickering about it.

"What I'm saying is that you didn't need to tell it out loud! Do you enjoy causing mayhem for everyone around you for fun?"

"For fun? You think this is funny to me? My contract literally stated that I am to work in your kitchen that is already prepared for me. And yet, I come here and have to fork over my own stuff just to fulfill my end of the deal. If you think any of this is funny to me, I may end up questioning your definition of humor."

"Why you, ungrateful-!"

*TAK-!*

"-!!!"

In trying to stifle a growing pocket of annoyance in my chest, I ended up raising and chopping down a cleaver knife that I was sharpening into a wooden chopping board which split it cleanly in half.

"Huh… my hand slipped."

"You murderous-!"

"Seems like not being able to cook that much these past days made me lose my touch a bit."

I decided to swerve the subject of my words away from what just happened, trying not to give him more ways to piss me off after everything that happened. Yet, he still managed to stifle his shaking knees and raise his voice towards me.

"I really am right! You are nothing but an annoying pest to all of us in here! No matter how much we try to live peacefully with each other, you always get in the way and stir us up into quarrels just so you can watch us fight amongst ourselves while you watch in the background!"

"…"

"I thought the higher-ups was able to finally break you when you left the school back then, but you seem to really want to mess with us to the point that you came back here like this! Ha! That's right! That's the only possible reason for you to ever come back to this place!"

"…Are you done fantasizing about your own version of how all of this happened?"

"Huh?"

"Let me say this straight to you since it seems like both sarcasm and allusions always go around your brain which makes you spin up these pointless tales… I quit going to this place not because I can't handle your unfair and cold treatment anymore. I dropped out because unlike all of you stooges, I actually have a reason to pursue a better life for the sake of those who are depending on me."

As I said before, I am a patient man. But when it comes to these idiots who keeps on whining about my existence or how I somehow cause the problems that causes their dysfunctional classmate-to-classmate relationships, I have no patience that can endure for that long.

"I can understand and let go of your discerning and cold gazes because I am an outsider in this country, but if your treatment of me hinges entirely on my identity, that I guess that speaks a lot about what you guys are as human beings. You say that all of you become intimidated with my skills and grades, but have none of you thought about improving yourselves rather than pulling me down to your level, you bunch of crab-mentality morons?"

"How dare you-!"

"And you also pin to me the fact that none of your cliques and groups in this class ever get any peace with each other and that I am somehow always the core of the problems because I point out all of your moral deficiencies and behaviors that can only come from a spoiled upbringing, when in truth, all of those infighting and backstabbing would happen regardless of whether I am here or not because all of your are morally deficient and are whiny spoiled men-children that can't tolerate anything that they don't like… just like admitting that the problem isn't me, but all of you."

"Kuh-!"

"So tell me, Kotaro… Who is really the problem here and who is being inconvenienced and blamed for all of your incompetence, childishness, naivety and insecurities? Is it all of you stooges or is it me?!"

It was only after I have poured out all of my anger through my words that my heart stopped pounding loudly and I heard my shout that echoed all across the room and into the hearing of the others outside of the kitchen.

"…"

"…If you have nothing valid to complain or talk about, get out of the kitchen and make yourself useful to those around you in one way or another. I don't care what in the hell you will be doing, just make yourself useful rather than continuing to be an annoying brat towards me."

To say that Kotaro was fuming mad towards me after I berated him with the harsh truth would be an understatement. Right now, he is tightly clenching his fists and his breathing was deep and rattling like an enraged bull.

"What? Now that I rebutted your jeering and spouted out the truth about all of your stupidities, you want to settle this now with your brawns? Come on, then. I may not be supportive of hitting brats as a way to discipline them, but I am more than happy to pound some overdue lessons into hideously bratty morons like you."

"Oh yeah?! You're gonna freaking regret that once I sink my-"

"Rai-san! Ko-kun! Enough!"

"Kh-!"

"…"

Just in time, Sayaka burst into the scene and stepped right in our middle with her arms outstretched and feet planted solidly on the ground just to force us to stop.

"Get out of the way, Saya-chan! That bastard's gotta get it!"

"No! That's enough out of both of you!"

"She said stop already, you idiot!"

Miyamoto also came into the kitchen and held back the idiot who seems to be enraged enough to hit Sayaka as well.

"Tch! This is not over, you hear me! It may only be for three days, but you better ready yourself for my revenge!"

At the time, I thought it was just an empty threat. But I will soon learn how much these guys are willing to go just to push their faults to me.