I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

After finishing our shopping trip at the market, we returned to Fuma-senpai’s tiny 10-pyeong apartment.
There was definitely a sense that we’d bought a bit too much on impulse, but hey, with four people, we should be able to finish it all, right?
"Shinji, the apron."

"Yes."
After setting all the grocery bags down on the floor, President Saionji stretched out her arms as she spoke.
The Vice President promptly handed her a white apron from who knows where.

It looked just like the setup for surgery.
With Minami’s help, President Saionji tied the apron around her waist, put on a white bandana over her hair, and finally picked up a kitchen knife.
"I’ll show you the culmination of my bride training so far!"

She looked like a general about to march onto the battlefield.
"Hmph, at the end of the day you’re just a textbook cook. You really think you can beat someone forged through countless real-life battles?"
Meanwhile, using the advantage of being on her home turf, Fuma-senpai smoothly completed her prep and pulled a blade from the kitchen cabinet.

The moment they saw it, the Akagi siblings gasped.
"That sword!"
"Heh… so you recognize it."

Muttering to herself, Fuma-senpai pulled on the hilt of the sword.
Shrrk—!
With a sharp metallic sound, it slid out of its scabbard—revealing a ninja blade engraved with elegant rippling patterns.

"This is Raikirimaru, the famed blade of Tachibana Dōsetsu. It was acquired by an ancestor of the Fuma clan."
"To see Black Yasha’s beloved blade in a place like this…"
"It really does have that beautiful pattern I’ve heard about…"
Whatever # Nоvеlight # it was, it looked like a really incredible sword.

Anyway, it seemed Fuma-senpai intended to use that Raikirimaru in place of a kitchen knife. She wiped the flat of the blade with a dry cloth.
And after calling Saionji out earlier for relying on ingredients, now she was clearly planning to flex her gear instead.
Isn’t this exactly what they call hypocrisy?

"Well then, shall we get started?"
President Saionji said as she looked up at the clock on the wall.
6:00 p.m.

Prime time for preparing dinner.
"We’ll each cook for exactly 30 minutes from now. You agree, Miss Fuma?"
Fuma-senpai crossed her arms just beneath her full chest and nodded.

"I agree."
"The judges will be Minami, Shinji, and Yu-seong-kun."
"With three people, there’s no way it’ll end in a tie."

"I’ve already asked them to judge as objectively as possible. So if it’s delicious, they won’t call it bad."
"I never worried about that to begin with."
With that, the conversation between the President and Fuma-senpai ended, and the Vice President readied the stopwatch on her phone.

"Both parties, prepare for a fair—"
Gulp—
The two of them stood in front of the cramped kitchen with nervous expressions.

Then the Vice President swung her arm in a big arc.
"—Battle!"
***

Shrrak!
The battle began with Fuma-senpai ripping open a bag of bean sprouts.
She dumped all five bags of sprouts into a large bowl, then scrubbed them thoroughly under running water.

To preserve the crisp texture, she left the sprouts soaking in cold water while she prepped other ingredients.
Salt, soy sauce, sugar, and a mysterious black liquid.
With expert speed and precise measurements, she whipped up a versatile sauce for the sprouts. Then, pulling a carrot from a plastic bag, she suddenly tossed it into the air.

"Hup!"
In the middle of cooking, she suddenly did what?
I blinked, and the next thing I knew, the carrot had landed on the cutting board—peeled and cut perfectly into bite-sized pieces.

The Vice President clenched his fists in excitement and shouted:
"There it is!! One of Black Yasha’s signature techniques—!!"
He shouted like a kid watching pro wrestling live, explaining the technique with giddy excitement.

"An artistic blade technique swung at invisible speed, yet with incredible precision! As expected of that man’s daughter!"
Thanks to that, I didn’t even have to ask. I automatically got the rundown on the move’s features and history.
Though honestly, if he could just tone down the volume, it’d be perfect.

I never thought I’d see someone throwing vegetables into the air and striking them with flashes of light in real life, but since the one doing it is a ninja… somehow, it all made sense.
So this is the mysterious power of a NINJA?
While Fuma-senpai was putting on a full-blown cooking manga performance, President Saionji quietly began by preparing the soup stock—the foundation of shabu-shabu.

Considering time management, that was the most sensible starting point.
And when you ignore cost entirely, making rich broth in a short time isn’t that hard.
You just dump in a mountain of ingredients compared to the amount of water.

President Saionji filled a pot with water, then added dried bonito flakes, kelp, anchovy powder, and dried shiitake mushrooms—boiling it all rapidly.
Normally, soup stock is made by simmering a small amount of ingredients for a long time.
But she did the opposite: tossing in nearly three times the normal quantity and bringing it to a vigorous boil.

Before the umami could even fully seep out, it was like a supercharged broth bomb—dense, pungent, and ready in no time.
With the most important part of shabu-shabu ready, she moved on to prepping the remaining ingredients.
She washed the vegetables clean and arranged them on plates, and the A++ grade wagyu she’d bought was plentiful enough to leave leftovers even after dinner.

She transferred the meat from its packaging to a plate, then smiled confidently.
"Fufu, don’t underestimate the cooking skills I’ve honed through over ten years of bride training."
Technically, shabu-shabu is considered cooking, but since it’s mostly self-service, it’s kind of hard to gauge someone’s actual cooking skill from it.

Still, with every ingredient being top-tier, failure wasn’t really possible either.
Just then—whoosh!—a burst of flame shot up from the frying pan Fuma-senpai was holding with one hand.
I reflexively flinched in surprise.

"What the—?!"
She didn’t even splash alcohol—why did that just spontaneously ignite?!
Startled by a cooking technique that defied common sense, I jerked upright in my seat. Next to me, Minami muttered with wide eyes:

"That’s some insane-level Fire Release…"
"To produce this kind of fire with no fuel source… She really is a senior ninja."
The Vice President added with a bitter expression, and I cautiously asked:

"So what’s your rank, anyway, Vice President? And Minami too?"
It had been bugging me since earlier.
The Vice President let out a frustrated "Tch!" and averted her eyes.

"Still just a junior ninja. That woman is the weird one. I mean, a senior ninja at eighteen? I’ve never heard of that."
In short, Fuma-senpai is absurdly strong.
Thinking back to how she held her own and stalled even Ivan—the one radiating final-boss energy—she really might be a monster in disguise.

Though it’s hard to imagine that when she’s acting all goofy like this.
Soon, Fuma-senpai stir-fried the thinly sliced pork shoulder with the bean sprouts and her special sauce over high heat, then plated it.
"—complete."

And just as she finished, President Saionji also announced:
"I’m ready too."
The two of them locked eyes.

You could practically see the sparks fly—but there was no time for that now.
"Come on, come on, let’s eat before it gets cold."
I said as I tried to mediate between them, then dragged out the round table from the corner and set it in the middle of the room.

***
"Start with the dish I made."
Fuma-senpai proudly presented what could only be described as a mountain of bean sprouts.

Bean sprout namul, miso soup with sprouts, stir-fried pork with sprouts, and even teppanyaki-style sprouts topped with her special seasoning, scooped off the griddle before the texture died.
It was an impressive spread—hard to believe it was all made in just 30 minutes.
I was sure she’d used a decent variety of vegetables too, but for some reason, all I could see was bean sprouts.

Still puzzled, I picked up my rice bowl and muttered:
"Thanks for the meal."
My chopsticks naturally went for the star dish of this bean sprout course: stir-fried pork with sprouts.

It was clearly the centerpiece—no doubt the one Fuma-senpai put the most effort into.
I picked up a generous helping of pork and sprouts with my chopsticks and took a bite.
Crunch!

The first thing that hit me was the signature crispness of the bean sprouts.
Then came the addictive blend of salty-sweet umami from the special sauce, spreading across my tongue. Finally, the Maillard reaction-seared pork—browned to perfection—delivered a burst of savory richness.
It might sound overly intellectual, but to put it simply, my verdict on this stir-fried pork and sprouts was—

"One more bowl."
It was a first-degree rice thief. A habitual offender with seventeen prior convictions.